


For You

by allicya



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Heavy usage of magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, The universe is heavily influenced by magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 56,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26574373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allicya/pseuds/allicya
Summary: A tale of two souls, in two different times.Baekhyun has the memories from his past life.But Jongdae only has a thick blank book.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen
Comments: 66
Kudos: 60





	1. Prologue;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy birthday, Kim Jongdae!

Kyoong was born when the waxing crescent moon hung high in the dark skies, when the Earth was filled with the smell of flowers everywhere. He was born to the royal family, one of the royal princes, but he was too carefree for a prince. He learnt how to fight, loved to play with magic and swords together with his brothers, became one of the great general, and somehow fell in love with one of the scholars.

Kyoong died during a solar eclipse, within the embrace of the person that he loved, with a magic arrow pierced through both of their bodies. He wasn't supposed to die, his lover took the damage the most, but he prayed to the gods to let him die with the person that he loved.

Because he was a nobody without the person that he loved, and dying together was better than staying alive alone.

The gods agreed, but with one condition.

When Kyoong would be reborn in another time, sometime in the future, he would remember his current life, his family, the war, the betrayals. And most of all, he would remember his lover; the face, the voice, the smile, the laughter, the smell, the tears, the blood, the name. He would remember everything about his lover, and the pain Kyoong brought to his lover.

Kyoong agreed in a heartbeat.

The arrow twisted nonstop and the dark magic spread, damaging both Kyoong and his lover's bodies. The arrow might levigate his heart, but in the end Kyoong protected the essence of his heart the most. He would remember the owner of his heart always, even onto the next lifetime.

Kyoong hissed, because it was extremely painful, so he hugged his lover tighter. At least they would feel the pain together, although all Kyoong wanted was to protect his lover and take all the pain away from his lover.

Kyoong would shoulder the pain, _all their pain_ , on their next lifetime. And his lover would be freed from the pain, on their next lifetime.

He felt his lover's fingers moving, clutching tighter to him, breathing his name. Kyoong cried, because until the end, his name was chosen to be his lover's last prayer.

Kyoong moved closer, the arrow moved within them, crushing their insides, and they took their last breaths together.

The history might remove their names altogether, the historians might be threatened to erase their names from the daily journals. But Kyoong would reborn again to remember them, about them, and he would carry both of their memories together.

Kyoong was reborn again, on a wonderful spring day, on the first week of May. He didn't remember his memories all at once, he remembered them bit by bit, little by little. He felt the first real pain of a heartbreak when he was 15, yet no one broke his heart. Slowly, the memories came to him, pieces by pieces. By twenty, he remembered everything. The face, the voice, the smile, the laughter, the smell, the tears, the blood, the name.

The name; Chen.

Chen was his lover; the scholar who loved to sing, who loved the books, who loved Kyoong.

By twenty, he still hadn't cross anyone that looked like Chen.

But he prayed for Chen's happiness every day.


	2. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please, don't trust me.

Jongdae sighed heavily.

The Guild just told him that he had to move out again, even he himself had lost count of how many times did he already move out and move in.

Initially, he didn’t care much about the place to live. Home for him, was himself, his magic. But the too frequent moving ins and outs made him longed for the familiarity, a normality of habits.

But now, everyone seemed like they wanted Jongdae for themselves, he could never stay at peace in one place for too long before some kidnapping threats were whispered around.

He regretted the day the Guild found him. He knew he should stay more humble with his power, since a Librarian like him was one of the rarest mages in the world.

The Librarians were sought after, everywhere in the world. The most useful kind of mages, because knowledge was the strongest power in the world.

And The Librarians knew a lot of things, because instead of searching for knowledge, knowledge were looking for them instead.

“Hyung, your bubble tea,” Jongin handed him the cold beverage, and Jongdae mouthed a small word of thanks. They were lounging around in a bubble tea shop, Jongin had a night task so Jongdae insisted on treating him something before Jongin went back to work. “Heard that The Magic Ministry met the Guild again, and the meeting was about you.”

Jongdae sighed again.

It wasn’t a secret that the Guild and the Magic Ministry didn’t see eye to eye often. The Ministry was so determined to place any Librarians under them, but the Guild opposed to the suggestion strongly.

Every mages were free to do what they wanted to, and never submit to the government. Jongdae agreed with that perspective, hence his willingness to follow the Guild more than the Ministry.

“Sometimes I wished I can reverse back the time to five years ago. When the Guild doesn’t know anything about me,” he sipped the bubble tea, but Jongin looked at him disapprovingly.

“Then we wouldn’t meet you, hyung.”

That made Jongdae smiled.

Jongin was one of his apprentices, the other one was Sehun. Both of them were also a pair of rare mages, because they were literally a pair of psychic twins.

Jongin and Sehun could listen to each other thoughts, and both were extremely good channelers. It was hard to make the pair accepted the fact that they were psychic twins at the beginning, but now Jongdae could smile at all of those memories.

“Maybe we can meet in a better situation,” Jongdae replied, fingers typing fast on his hand phone. “You should go back to the Guild. I want to check the new house, it’s ready now.”

Jongin pouted. “Are you okay going there alone, hyung? There have been too many weird things happening around you now.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, the apartment complex also houses a lot of strong mages. The security must be on top notch,” he stood, a book lay on the coffee table suddenly moved, opened up energetically and flown to the air, circling and flapping around Jongdae.

“Kyoong is excited to move in too,” Jongin poked the book cheerfully, which the book responded by closing itself, trapping Jongin’s finger between the pages. “Ouch! That hurts!”

Jongdae laughed at them, Kyoong was always playful around Jongin.

He met Kyoong long before he found out that he was a Librarian himself, Kyoong was actually the reason that Jongdae’s parents suspected that Jongdae was a Librarian. The book had been following Jongdae around ever since Jongdae found him among the cheap antiques for sell in the morning market. He was only 5 years old at that time, and was confused on why a book kept on following him.

Kyoong was an extremely thick book, Jongdae did count the pages one day, where he noted that Kyoong had 2104 pages, with a black worn out hardcover. The pages were already yellowed and a little bit torn, showing the old age of the book.

All of the pages were blank, except for the last page, which were filled with big calligraphies of ancient characters.

“Kyoong. These calligraphies wrote the word Kyoong,” his father said after he examined the book, when the book didn’t stop following them, didn’t stop following Jongdae. “Your name is Kyoong?”

The book only flapped noisily around Jongdae, and it had never left Jongdae’s side ever since then.

Jongdae took a taxi to his new apartment complex, located at the rich hilly area of the city. Jongdae wasn't really a man keen on wealth, but the whole environment was peaceful and the sunset looked pretty from the hills. He thanked the taxi driver once they had arrived outside of the lobby and walked slowly towards the main door.

The whole apartment complex was guarded by magic, Jongdae could feel the invincible barrier once he stepped out of the taxi just now. Two tall men guarded the main door, eyed him and the flying book silently. Jongdae held out his palm in front of the guards, and his palm brightened with the Guild's arcane mark for a few seconds.

"The book is my familiar."

The guards nodded and let him in.

He looked around the lobby, felt the strong magic nearly suffocated him for the first few seconds, before he could finally breathe fine once he stood in front of the elevators.

It was normal; apartments and apartment complexes had their own magic too, after the Builder casted them with Life. Apartment complexes had their own rights to accept or reject anyone that stepped their foot inside the building. And the first encounter of an apartment and a new resident had always became an interesting story to other people.

This apartment complex apparently accepted Jongdae without any issue, when the elevator arrived from the basement.

 _Another apartment to deal with,_ Jongdae exhaled a deep breath, before the elevator dinged, before the doors were opened.

He was greeted by a man, probably the same age with him, the man’s eyes rounded with shock before he looked away, looked at the elevator panel just to avoid Jongdae's eyes.

Did the person know him?

Jongdae silently entered the elevator, tried to remember if he ever seen this man, but his memories said no. He wanted to press the floor of his new place, but the number 21 had already been pressed.

The man was his neighbour?

He wanted to greet the man, when suddenly, so suddenly, Kyoong actually attacked the man by flapping itself on the man's face.

"Kyoong! What are you doing? Stop that!" Jongdae almost panic when the man groaned loudly from the ambush. He immediately grabbed his familiar tight and hugged it close to his chest, but the thick book actually resisted him, struggling to get free.

Getting hit with a book was already painful, imagine being slapped suddenly by a thick book itself. The poor man touched his reddened nose, blinked his eyes with utter surprise. The man was clearly speechless.

"Kyoong! Behave!" Jongdae shouted, his tone was harsh, and finally the book somehow calmed down. The spine and the hard covers weakened, the book was slumping itself on Jongdae's arm. Kyoong never attacked people aggressively before, if that was even an attack or simply an agressive rampage, he couldn’t decide because Jongdae never saw such behaviour from his familiar. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Jongdae stepped closer, to examine the man's face, but the man quickly put a hand between them, his other hand was still touching his nose.

"It's okay," the man replied. "I'm okay."

Jongdae bit his lower lip, didn't really know what to reply, because the man was clearly not okay.

The man's whole face was red, the nose was the reddest, when the man removed his hand from his face to take out a handkerchief from his pants' pocket.

"Oh my, where's my behaviour?" Jongdae quickly reached for his own handkerchief but the man shook his head quickly.

"No, no. Really, it's okay," the man said, wiping his face and nose, probably to check for blood.

Thankfully, there was no blood.

But there were small scratches, Jongdae wanted to point out but the elevator dinged again, catching their attentions.

"I...I'm moving to 2103," Jongdae said, but the man just nodded and quickly stepped out from the elevator.

Jongdae tailed the man, silently wondered what happened to his familiar that it reacted that way towards the man, but stopped when he saw the man stood in front of the door for 2104.

"I guess I'm your new next door neighbour," Jongdae tried, maintained some space between them, but the man only stared at the door and waiting, as if there was some unfinished business between them. Jongdae took the cue and spoke again, "Look, I'm really sorry. My familiar never attack people without a reason before--"

"My door doesn't want to open because you're standing too close."

Jongdae bit his lower lip again.

Of course.

Of course, the man's apartment didn't recognise Jongdae yet. Of course the apartment thought Jongdae was a threat. There was no knob or lock on the door, it was fully functioned on magic alone, so of course Jongdae's presence had been noticed by his neighbour's apartment. Jongdae himself didn't even know if his new apartment would let him in.

"Sorry," Jongdae hung his head low, took a few steps backward, and when he was probably 3 metres away from the man, the apartment's door finally opened.

The man just entered his apartment without any words, and the door immediately closed again.

Jongdae noticed the strong magic coming from the apartment, and now the magic was seeping from the walls, protecting itself from danger.

Protecting itself from Jongdae.

Jongdae wasn't new to this, so he just walked pass the door, didn't want to offend his neighbour’s apartment any further, and stopped in front of the door with the number 2103. Same with 2104, no knob and locks, purely approval from the apartment itself.

"Hi," Jongdae whispered, still hugging his familiar tight. "I'm Kim Jongdae, and this book here is my familiar, Kyoong. We are your new residents."

He touched the door softly, closed his eyes and pressed his forehead on the cool surface of the door. He took another breath, before he slowly, so slowly, seeped his magic on the door.

His magic greeted the apartment, spread further towards the walls, the floors and the ceilings, and he was relieved when there was no refusal from the apartment itself, only easy acceptance. When his magic reached the wall shared with his next door's neighbour, Jongdae carefully threading his magic, but not surprised when he found the strong resistance from the apartment's next door.

"Hi there, 2104," he whispered again. "Sorry to surprise you just now. I'm Kim Jongdae, who will be staying at 2103 starting from today, if you let me live beside you."

He bared himself with the opposing apartment, let the apartment's magic entered his body, let the apartment's magic reassess his whole being.

2104's magic was extremely strong but mysteriously afraid of him for reason that Jongdae didn't know. He breathed deeply, let the strange magic flowed inside of him, as he waited from the apartment's approval.

Time clicked steadily for minutes, and Jongdae still let 2104's magic cruised inside his body, when he felt the magic swirled curiously around Kyoong.

"My familiar, Kyoong."

And that exact same moment he felt the magic's barrier between 2103 and 2104 dissolved, and another strong magic power came, as both apartments joint back their magic as one combined magic power, one strong magic wall.

2103 and 2104 was a joint apartment now, with no opposing power between them.

"Thank you," Jongdae straightened himself and smiled towards both doors.

The door of 2103 clicked open for him.

* * *

The new apartment was extremely friendly to Jongdae.

It was exactly how Jongdae requested to the Guild. A high ceiling apartment with a medium sized loft that he intended to change as his bedroom, a large panel of floor to ceiling windows and most importantly, the almost completed furniture provided by the Guild.

It was easy to decorate the entire place, the apartment didn't give him any distressed magic at all when the Mover came later that night with three large luggage bags...

And countless amount of boxes, full of books.

Even 2104 was intrigued, its magic touched Jongdae lightly on his arm when Jongdae was busy cutting the boxes' tapes and unsealed the protective magic around the boxes.

"These boxes?" Jongdae smiled, understood that both apartments were curious. "My best treasures, the source of my power. I'll arrange them later, you can stay if you want to watch."

2104's magic lingered, Kyoong flown happily around the high ceiling of the apartment, and 2103 was humming with positive magic while waiting for Jongdae to finish unsealing every boxes.

The Builder just finished installing numerous shelves on the wall when he approached Jongdae. "I've finished my work. I placed the unattached planks on the floor, just like you instructed. You'll cast your own magic to the shelves later?"

Jongdae nodded, stopped his task for a while to take a look at the Builder's craftsmanship.

He smiled. The big room, the one where the wall was shared with 2104's wall had been installed with various sets of wall shelf.

"Perfect. Thank you for your hard work. I'll tell the Guild to release the payment to you," he bowed his head and led the Builder safely towards the door, before he walked back inside and watched the heaps of boxes scattered everywhere in the apartment.

It took him another half an hour to finally finish with the tapes and the protective spells, and when he stood in front of the door for the big room, Jongdae called for Kyoong immediately.

"I don't want you to get lost in the sea of books," Jongdae caught Kyoong softly and tugged the book carefully under his left arm. "Okay...Here's the fun part of shelving these books..."

Jongdae often did this. He never stayed in one place for more than 6 months, yet, the thrill of this process never failed to lighten up his day.

He straightened his right arm and focused his magic on his right fingertips. He could hear the noises, the shaking and the vibrations, the nervous energies that all came from the scattered boxes. Even Kyoong vibrated eagerly in his arm, the curiosity of the apartments also heightened crazily.

He linked his magic tightly from his fingertips, to the shelves on the wall.

"Go."

All of the books from the boxes flown out, rushed towards the shelves, arranged themselves in manner that was known only to Jongdae.

Rushes of books flying all around the room, the scent of papers and the noises of the flapping pages.

Those things were giving Jongdae a reason to live, a reason to stay strong.

The shelves were clearly limited compared to the hundreds, thousands of books, but then Jongdae snapped his fingers, and a few unattached planks on the floor flown towards the installed shelves, and connected themselves with the installed shelves.

Everything in the room forming one big magical bookshelf, as more and more books arranged themselves, and more and more planks attached themselves with the connected shelves.

Orders and categories weren't important to the Librarians, for they had their own way to find the books later on, so the books were mostly arranged according to the height and colours, pleasant to see to the eyes.

When only one book left floating in the air, Jongdae stepped inside the room and let Kyoong flown freely.

The whole room was now a library, and this room was what Jongdae would call home.

He took the last book between his fingers, the book with the strongest magic in the room, a magic so strong that Kyoong itself was afraid of the book.

Compared to Kyoong, the book was thin with no papers inside. The red hardcover was stamped with an arcane mark, a protective spell created by Jongdae itself.

He placed the book on the floor, Kyoong flown quickly and hid behind his back before Jongdae casted his magic again on the arcane mark.

"Lock."

And the whole library vanished.

* * *

To normal people, the room was empty.

To normal mages, the room was filled with one large bookshelf.

To high level mages, they knew better not to mess with the room.

And no one knew how the room looked like in Jongdae's eyes.

Jongdae turned off the light for the library, finally satisfied with the level of security that he had casted around the room.

It was already midnight when he finished unpacking everything and he was so hungry. Kyoong already fell asleep on the coach, recklessly opened at some random empty pages, tired from playing around the apartment and with 2103’s magic itself.

Thankfully Jongdae remembered to order a takeout before starting to reassemble his library, so he went to the kitchen which had already been fully equipped with kitchenware and utensils.

He was waiting for the meal to be reheated inside the microwave when he heard a knock on his door.

Jongdae certainly didn't expect anyone tonight, so he was cautious when he walked towards the door. The apartment's magic told him to relax when he arrived at the door, and 2103 opened up its door.

His next door neighbour was standing in front of him, in a pyjama, looking extremely tired. His eyes were red, and he looked almost sick.

“Uh, hi?” Jongdae greeted the man, but the man just sighed.

“You’re a Librarian?” His neighbour asked, looked at the logo in front of Jongdae’s shirt instead of his face.

Rude, but Jongdae already faced the rudeness earlier. Powerful mage often had some pride, refused to be friendly with other powerful mages.

“I don’t know how you know that, but yes, I’m a Librarian,” there was no use in hiding the truth, more so between next door neighbours.

The man finally looked at his eyes. Cold pair of red eyes looked straight at Jongdae’s. “When will your magic calm down?”

“Huh?” Jongdae was confused.

Instead of replying, the man stepped back, knocked on his own door and 2104’s door was clicked open.

A nonstop stream of flying books flown straight from 2104 into 2103, Jongdae himself was surprised that he had to stay close with the wall to give way to what was probably another hundreds of books to enter his apartment.

When the last book entered his apartment, Jongdae was already frowning so hard. Kyoong apparently was awakened by the noise and the sudden streams of books too, as it flown quickly towards Jongdae.

“I—,” Jongdae stuttered, looking at the books crowding the front of the room containing his library, “This has never happened before, I swear.” He already closed the door to his library before he decided to eat just now, and now his neighbour’s books floating eagerly, probably waiting for the door to be opened. “I swear I only linked the library’s magic with my books—“

“I can’t sleep because they’re flying around the house, trying to go to your place,” his neighbour cut his words, Jongdae just looked back at his neighbour, their frowns were deep and identical.

“I’m so sorry,” what was happening today that he kept giving trouble to his neighbour without even trying, Jongdae himself had no idea, “I’ll collect all of them for you imme—“

“Just give them back tomorrow, I really need a sleep now.”

“But—“

His neighbour already turned around and entered his own apartment, didn’t even wait for Jongdae to say anything more.

When 2104’s door was closed shut, Jongdae released his own sigh.

He looked at his own apartment, at the flying and floating books, wandering what actually happened to make the books reacted with his magic too. Calming down these books would take some time and more magic, Jongdae took one book which floated steadily in front of the TV and casted some magic on it.

The book calmed down.

One down, hundreds more to go.

* * *

When Jongdae wanted to return the books the next morning, the door to 2104 quickly clicked open upon noticing Jongdae’s presence.

There was a small note attached to the door, Jongdae read them while carrying a few books in his arm. Kyoong stood on his shoulder, similarly curious.

_Leave them inside, near the entrance_

His neighbour must had already left for work, Jongdae thought while putting the books on the floor.

2104 smelled like a fresh garden.

He glanced around the apartment quickly, noticed the numerous plants decorating the place but refused to step further inside since 2104’s magic itself was quiet nervous when Jongdae entered the house.

“I’ll cast some magic on the books and let them arrange themselves at the entrance, is it okay with you, 2104? I’ll leave Kyoong here if you’re worried,” Jongdae asked the apartment, thought of a quicker way to return the books since he had to go to work now, Chanyeol already arrived at the lobby.

The apartment’s magic hummed steadily and Jongdae took that as the green light. Kyoong flown high, chose to float above the door, quick to understand Jongdae’s words.

“Okay, open up your door for the books,” Jongdae told the apartment, quickly returned to his place, and stood in front of rows and rows of books. He held out his palm, engulfing all the books with his magic. “I’m not your owner, but it’s nice meeting you guys. Go back to your rightful place,” he smiled at the books, always so fond of books, and nodded to the books when he was ready. “Go.”

The books flown systematically one by one into 2104 in a fast rush and Jongdae watched them carefully. He followed the last book, entered 2104 and satisfied with the way the books stacked themselves properly on the floor, high up to the ceiling.

“Your owner will put you guys on the shelf himself, okay? He knows you guys better,” Jongdae gestured for Kyoong to come to his arm, glanced quickly again inside the apartment, felt the strong presence of multiple magic in the place, in form of greenery and soft petals.

The plants were observing him.

Jongdae didn’t say a word, chose to leave the house with Kyoong under his arm and 2104 closed the door shut.

“Thank you, dear,” Jongdae touched the door softly and the apartment’s magic vibrated happily.

Some houses loved endearments, and 2104 wasn’t an exceptional.

He returned back to his apartment, took his belongings before whispering soft words to 2103 to take good care of itself and quickly went to the elevators.

The apartments were very interesting, as he felt the magic from 2103 and 2104 twirling behind him, trying to tail Kyoong who was flying happily around while they waited for the elevator.

* * *

“You had a wild night,” Chanyeol examined his face after Jongdae entered the car.

“Very wild, thank you,” Jongdae fastened the seatbelt, Kyoong landed on his lap and Chanyeol began his drive. “I gave trouble to my neighbour on the first 5 seconds after meeting him and I slept late last night because of him too.”

“So wild! That explained the dark rings under your eyes,” Chanyeol chuckled. “Who’s your neighbour? What did he do?”

“He didn’t introduce himself, but really, I don’t blame him. Kyoong attacked him at the first second it saw the poor guy.”

“What?” Chanyeol glanced quickly to the side, to look at Jongdae. “Kyoong never attack people without reason!”

“That’s the problem. Even if it dislikes someone, it would just stay rigid on my shoulder,” Jongdae patted the cover of his familiar softly. “And then, when I assembled my library, guess what happened?”

“What?” Chanyeol slowed down his car, extremely interested with Jongdae’s stories.

“His books also wanted to enter my library.” Chanyeol gaped, no words exited his mouth, as he looked at Jongdae. “Eyes on the road!” Jongdae hit Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“I’ll never die in a car accident!”

“Don’t be reckless just because you have some sick magic!”

Chanyeol had no choice but to focus back on the road.

“Your library’s magic only call out to your books! Why did his books react to your magic too?” Chanyeol asked, totally flabbergasted.

“I don’t know, this is the first time something like this happened to me,” replied Jongdae. “And his apartment. His apartment is so nervous with me, I just don’t understand why.”

The drive was silent for a minute, before Chanyeol suggested something. “Maybe he’s your magic twin?”

“Oh please! Librarian doesn’t have any twin! He isn’t a Librarian too—” Jongdae paused. “Wait, I don’t know about that, but I don’t think he’s a Librarian! No, Librarian don’t have twins!”

“Who knows? Your familiar and your magic act differently around this new neighbour of yours.”

Jongdae huffed, disagreed with the suggestion. His phone vibrated right when he wanted to debate again, so he chose to read the notification instead.

“Ugh, the RSVP for the special committee’s meeting this afternoon. I don’t even agree to be in this committee at the first place,” Jongdae groaned, decided either to reply it now or later.

“That committee’s aim is just to find ways to piss off the Ministry. You should feel honoured to be included in the team,” Chanyeol laughed.

“You’re working for the Ministry, you shouldn’t laugh.”

“I’m forced to work for the Ministry, I’ll be happy to laugh with the people who’ll piss them off.”

Jongdae turned his head towards Chanyeol, felt badly for his best friend who was under the strict eyes of the Magic Ministry. If Jongdae one of the rarest mages, Chanyeol was probably the rarest of them all.

“Well, I’m glad to make you happy then.”

* * *

Jongin and obviously Sehun too, were also included in the special committee, but since Sehun had some task to be done, Jongdae attended the meeting with Jongin.

They were probably 20 people in the meeting room, some were familiar to Jongdae, and some were new faces.

One was a familiar _and_ a new face to him.

“Do you know that guy, Nini?” Jongdae pointed his pen towards the man with a smiling face, busy talking with the person beside him.

Jongin looked at the direction, and nodded. “Byun Baekhyun? He’s one of the Guild’s best researchers. Sehun knows him, he’s extremely friendly but I don't pay much attention when they talked.”

Extremely friendly and a smiling face contradicted greatly with what Jongdae was facing with yesterday, he had to do a double take to make sure that guy was indeed his next door neighbour.

That was indeed his next door neighbour.

“I see...” Jongdae tapped his pen softly on Kyoong’s hardcover. “He’s my new neighbour.”

“Really? You guys already met?” Jongin asked excitedly. “How is he?”

Jongdae thought for a while on how to answer that question. “He’s...I don’t know. Just met him in the elevator, we didn’t talk.”

“Ah, his mind is probably occupied with something else. He’s just like us, one with too many tasks because the Guild deemed us as rare and useful.”

“What’s his power?”

“He’s the Botanist—“

“There are a lot of Botanists out there.”

“Botanist Builder.”

Jongdae raised his eyebrow, even Kyoong vibrated softly on the table.

“Botanists can listen and talk with the plants, right? And Builders can build things with their magic and control the things they built and even gave them lives,” Jongin explained, but something in his tone was telling Jongdae that the one who was talking now was Sehun. Psychic twins shit happened. “Well, Byun Baekhyun can talk with the plants, and he can build things with the plants, cast magic on them. Grow the roots bigger, make the stems longer, turn a small leaf into bushes in a few seconds. Basically growing a forest with his magic alone.”

Okay, that was indeed rare. In times where people dared to cut trees illegally, Baekhyun’s power was indeed useful.

“So he’s usually at the research lab?”

“Just like you’re always at the Grand Library, hyung, yes.”

“The Ministry wants him too?”

“We don’t know about that, but apparently he doesn’t like the Ministry for some reason.”

 _We_. The psychic twins were both talking to him now.

Jongdae used that chance to ask Sehun about his ghost client, topics about his new neighbour was forgotten for a while.

The meeting immediately started when the head of the Guild came. The special committee was indeed a team created to stop the Ministry from butting their heads into the Guild’s matters unnecessarily.

“All of us will need to work together. I might team you guys up with one another sometime later.”

The command was normal, a good teamwork meant a good relationship with one another. Jongdae was scrabbling nonsense on Kyoong’s paper, the ink would never stick for more than 5 seconds anyway and Jongdae didn’t need to write anything to remember what he had just listened to. He was a Librarian, he remember what he heard immediately.

But somehow, Jongdae’s instinct was to raise his head and looked at one particular direction after he heard their leader’s words.

Byun Baekhyun was staring back at him, no friendly gesture and no smiling face.

* * *

“I swear he doesn’t like me!”

Chanyeol made a face. He didn’t even say a word yet when Jongdae entered his car. “Who are you talking about?”

“Byun Baekhyun! My new neighbour!” Jongdae almost shouted, Kyoong was restless on his lap. “He greeted everyone in the meeting room but he avoided me! He even nodded at Jongin but none whatsoever at me!”

“Whoa, hold on. Byun Baekhyun is your new neighbour? I heard that he’s a good fella?”

“He’s good with everyone except me!” Jongdae turned his whole body towards Chanyeol. “Is it because Kyoong attacked him for no reason? This is so frustrating!”

Jongdae crossed both of his arms, he was clearly unsatisfied with whatever Byun Baekhyun thought of hi,.

“Maybe he thought you’re his enemy? Nemesis? He’s the same age with us, maybe he’s aiming at some position and considered you as a rival?”

“I don’t aim for any positions at all.”

“He doesn’t know that. Everyone in our age are eager to prove something, don’t deny that.”

“He’s a Botanist Builder, I’m a Librarian! We don’t intersect at any point at all!”

“Why are you so mad that he’s acting differently with you anyway?

Jongdae huffed. “I don’t like making enemies.”

Chanyeol laughed out loud. “Say that sentence with exactly the same tone in front of Kris Wu.”

“Kris Wu is different! He’s a menace!” Jongdae immediately countered.

“I think Byun Baekhyun is just mad about Kyoong. Give him time,” said Chanyeol, and now he wanted to know something else. “How’s the meeting?”

“They still let you be my assigned driver, so I guess that means the Guild isn’t going to war with the Ministry yet,” Jongdae replied. “Nothing too important. The usual _don’t submit to Ministry’s orders easily_ bullshit. And speaking of Kris Wu, he asked me to meet him sometime soon for another reading session. I swear he lives to make me suffer, he knows how much I hate historical journals!”

“What is he trying to find within the past journals anyway? He’s like, extremely obsessed with history stuff.”

“Beats me. A day with him is enough to stress me out for a week. Even talking about him is making me incredibly stressed out! Chanyeol, let’s go eat some expensive meat!”

Chanyeol agreed, for he knew a Librarian’s reading session was always so intense, to prepare for a reading session itself took a lot of energy.

Added with the issue of Byun Baekhyun, Jongdae was indeed under extreme stress, Chanyeol could feel it from the tense magic flowing from Jongdae, seeping out without Jongdae even realising it.

* * *

It was already 10 pm when Chanyeol dropped him at the apartment’s lobby.

Kyoong was already asleep, Jongdae was hugging him tightly while waited for the elevator to ascend from the basement floor.

He wasn’t surprised at all to see Byun Baekhyun in the elevator when it arrived. The elevator somehow loved to let them meet each other.

Jongdae sighed, entered the elevator and they rode in total silence.

When the elevator reached their floor, Jongdae stepped out first, only to turn around, blocking Byun Baekhyun from going out of the elevator.

“What is your problem with me?” Jongdae asked.

Byun Baekhyun was clearly surprised, but then Jongdae wasn’t a person to beat around the bush.

2103 and 2104’s magic reached them, intrigued to know what happened at the elevator. Jongdae waited patiently for any answer from Byun Baekhyun, a hand steady on the elevator door, preventing it from closing.

“I don’t have any problem with you.”

Jongdae suddenly wanted to hit the person in front of him. Shouldn’t be a problem, since they were the same height and built. Okay, maybe Byun Baekhyun was broader, but he was positive he could fight him.

“You’re friendly with everyone, except me,” Jongdae chose to be civil instead of fighting. “If it’s because of what Kyoong did to you yesterday, then again, I’m sor—“

“Do we need to be friends?”

Jongdae was stunned. He read a lot of self-help books, he was a Librarian for his own sake, but none could prepare him with an answer to that question. “Excuse me?”

“We are neighbours, we work for the Guild, we are some kind of rare mages, and suddenly we need to be friends?” Baekhyun asked with a straight face.

“I— Do we need a reason to be friends?”

“Again, do we need to be friends? I don’t want to befriend you, you can’t accept that?”

That hurt, Jongdae felt that in his heart. “It’s okay if you don’t want to befriend me, but at least be respectful.”

“At what occasion am I disrespectful to you?”

Jongdae was starting to fume, Kyoong already stirred uncomfortably in his arms due to the angry energy, and he decided that he had enough with the man in front of him.

“Fine. Whatever suits you.”

He turned around and started to walk angrily, 2103’s door immediately opened, its magic was extremely nervous because of Jongdae’s spiking energy.

Jongdae shut the door with a bang.

* * *

Nothing much happened after that, except the cold war between Jongdae and Baekhyun.

Their apartments were somehow becoming restless too.

They didn’t meet each other for a week, was forced to finally meet again because of another special committee’s meeting.

The meeting was being held at the Guild’s special building, which contained various kind of laboratories.

“Baekhyun hyung’s lab is in this building,” Sehun said, for he was the one to tag along with Jongdae this time since it was Jongin’s turn for field tasks that day.

“Did I ask?”

Both Jongin and Sehun knew about what happened between Jongdae and Baekhyun, when one morning, Jongdae almost smacked Kyoong harshly on a table, the poor book quickly flown and hid behind Jongin.

Jongin forced Jongdae to tell him immediately what was happening.

“I’m just telling,” replied Sehun, knew how sensitive Jongdae was when Baekhyun’s name was mentioned.

The meeting was normal, people suggested their opinions left and right, but Jongdae just listened to them. He had a reading session with the Healers that morning, didn’t even have time to bite on something for lunch when Sehun already came to fetch him.

“I’m hungry,” he whispered to Sehun when the Head of the Guild was talking about some law and legal issues. Certainly not Jongdae’s favourite topic.

“The public pantry is downstairs this week, if I’m not mistaken. I’ll record the meeting if you want to excuse yourself for a while,” Sehun told him.

“It’s okay, I’ll read the meeting notes from the secretary later,” Jongdae silently stood, avoiding attention to himself since the others were actively discussing. “I’m leaving Kyoong with you.”

Sehun nodded, and Jongdae mouthed the word pantry to the Head of the Guild who noticed his movements.

The building was heavily casted with magic, Jongdae noted ever since he set his feet on the lobby. There was no use for directory in this kind of building, every rooms changed their locations at least once a week, and some important rooms even changed their locations every day.

He went down the staircase, asked for the directions to the pantry from the staff that passed him by and his eyes were wandering around as he walked following the said directions.

Jongdae was fascinated with sciences, curiously observed the laboratories that he passed with extreme interest while walking his way towards the pantry.

Magic fabrics, magic metals, magic plants and everything else magic were being researched in this building. Jongdae couldn’t create such magic, he could only control papers but he loved to read about the making of these magic items.

Even the pantry itself was extremely interesting, he noticed right after he entered the room, with saucers and mugs being held by swaying stems of plants, with various jars of foods in so many colours placed on branches of strong small trees.

“Hello guys. Plants are the waiters in this pantry? That’s special,” Jongdae greeted the magical plants, his usual habit to treat them like equals, because these items were indeed equals, and probably stronger than him. “Is there anything I can eat here?”

One long branch moved slowly, lengthened itself to the front of a refrigerator placed beside it, and the leaves on the branches pulled open the door of the refrigerator successfully. Jongdae mouthed thank you to the plant, quickly glanced inside the refrigerator.

There were a lot of bottles and containers, all looked like foods, but Jongdae was sceptical to try something he wasn’t sure what was the content.

“What can I consume safely here?” Jongdae asked, decided to take one of the microwave friendly noodle boxes stacked at the back—the usual food for the mages in a hurry—and put the box in the microwave, waited for the meal to heat up after pressing the reheat button.

He looked around the pantry again, tried to find something to drink, and spotted a purple coloured liquid inside a glass container.

“What is that, dear?” Jongdae asked to no plants in particular, hand already reached the container.

It was sealed tight, still quite easy to be opened, with no label whatsoever. The container had no magical properties, wasn’t magical at all.

It was the purple liquid placed inside that was magical, brewed with a very powerful magic.

The magic even lured Jongdae, and Jongdae was very weak to the unknowns.

“What are you...” Jongdae whispered, fingers already unclasped the cover. The strong smell of flower caught him off guard.

“Nectar?” again he whispered, dipped his pinkie inside the liquid and carefully tasted it.

Sweet, but with a strong metallic taste.

Jongdae quickly covered the container again, when his brain worked fast enough to tell him what was actually inside the container.

A blood nectar.

Who the hell stored a blood nectar in a public pantry?

“What are you doing?!”

He dropped the container, shocked due to the sudden presence of the high pitch voice.

A long branch was quick to save the container from falling to the ground, covering it safely with its leaves.

“Holy, you scared me,” Jongdae turned towards the voice.

Baekhyun was furious, scowling at him, tense in front of the door. “What are you doing here?”

His pitch was getting higher, and Jongdae was forever annoyed with this man. “It’s a pantry, obviously I’m here to eat something.”

“This is my personal pantry!”

It was normal for a mage to have their own personal pantry, Jongdae himself had his own personal pantry at the Grand Library. But outsiders shouldn’t enter a personal pantry without the owner’s permission.

Jongdae frowned. “But the staff just now said the pantry—“

“The pantries changed their places with each other just now,” Baekhyun quickly stepped inside, took the container hugged by the plant and uncovered it in a hurry. “Did you touch this?”

Baekhyun was glaring at him, something told Jongdae to just lie to Baekhyun.

So lies he gave to Baekhyun. “No. I’m just looking at it because of the interesting colour.”

Baekhyun was judging him, Jongdae refused to say another word.

_Don’t drink a blood nectar recklessly, because the effect varies greatly. Drink it only when the owner of the blood fused with the nectar is present together._

Every botany books that he read must contained that warning. Jongdae knew that warning, but he didn’t know that the container contained a blood nectar.

It was only a dip. A small, tiny dip.

But in his panic of being caught by Baekhyun, he forgot the most important thing.

“You’re lying. The plants said you put your finger inside and tasted it!”

Damn Botanist and their ability to hear the plants.

“Look,” Jongdae spoke. “In my defence, I don’t know what is inside of this container! Just a taste, I’m not drinking it! And I skipped my lunch, I’m freaking hungry right now, I thought this is the public pantry, and I just want to eat something!”

As by cue, the microwave dinged, cutting the heavy tension between the two mages.

Baekhyun frowned at the microwave.

Baekhyun’s freaking microwave with Baekhyun’s freaking food, Jongdae realised now.

“And what are you heating inside? My plants?”

“By Lord of Books, do you hate me so much?” Jongdae sighed, quickly opened the microwave to show to Baekhyun what was inside, didn’t even care about the heat and steam. “Noodle! Okay, fine! Your noodle! I’m sorry I took your noodle and heated them, all without your permission! I’ll pay for this noodle—“

“Get out,” Baekhyun took a deep breath. “Take that noodle and get out of my pantry.”

Jongdae wanted to fight Baekhyun, he swore he wanted to fight, but he was just so damn tired and hungry.

He pulled a few tissues from the box, didn’t care if those were Baekhyun’s, grabbed the hot cup using the tissues, closed the microwave dramatically and left the pantry quickly, eyes not even once looking at Baekhyun.

A few staffs were watching the scene, but Jongdae didn’t have it in him to bother about what those people would say about him and Baekhyun.

He had enough of Baekhyun for today.

* * *

Jongdae ate the noodles cup in a record time, ignoring how the temperature almost burnt his tongue, and threw the empty cup harshly.

He just wanted to stay away from Byun Baekhyun.

He entered the meeting room, didn’t even bother to silence his movements this time and immediately walked towards the Guild’s Head and bent down to whisper on his ear.

“A meeting with Kris Wu tomorrow. I have to get back early,” The Guild’s Head just nodded knowingly. “Thank you.”

He went to his seat just now, Sehun eyed him curiously but Jongdae just ignored him. He took Kyoong with him, and bowed down his head from the place where he was standing.

“I’m sorry to leave this early. Excuse me.”

When he walked towards the door, he swore he could feel Baekhyun’s eyes on him.

To hell with Byun Baekhyun.

He was sure Chanyeol was still working now, so he called for a taxi instead and texted Chanyeol that he didn’t have to drive him home today.

Throughout the ride, he felt so suffocating, Byun Baekhyun was indeed a suffocating type of a person, but the closer he was to the apartment complex, the surer Jongdae was that the suffocating effect wasn’t just an emotional stress.

He was literally suffocating, breathing was getting harder for him.

His steps were weak and slow, the guards were looking at him with concern, Kyoong hovered over his face with quick flaps of his covers, but he just smiled at them and tried to pass the guards steadily, avoiding Kyoong’s obvious attempt to check on him.

His vision blurred a little bit, and he suddenly could smell a lot kind of scents, could listen to small whispers of unknown words.

His nose were flooded with floral and earthy scents, his ears picked up small voices left and right. The plants decorated the lobby were clearly swaying on his direction.

He was a Librarian, of course he knew what was happening to him.

“Damn...” he cursed, barely able to stand properly while waiting for the elevator.

_Don’t drink a blood nectar recklessly, because the effect varies greatly._

He only tasted a dip! It was probably only 1ml of a blood nectar! And suddenly he had a power of a Botanist! If that was truly Baekhyun’s blood that he tasted, he probably could order the plants around too now!

Damn Byun Baekhyun!

When he entered the elevator, he rested his body on the wall of the moving machine, thankful for the lack of plants in the elevator, thankful for the lack of scents and whispers.

Should he call Chanyeol? But Chanyeol didn’t know anything about blood nectars.

Text Sehun to give him Baekhyun’s number? Hell never. He didn’t want to deal with Baekhyun anymore for the rest of the day.

Jongdae took a deep breath, braced himself when he arrived at the floor of 21.

 _This isn’t going to be easy,_ he thought to himself, chose to focus on his own power instead.

No use.

Jongdae wasn’t a Botanist, and the overwhelming magic from 2104 even reached inside the closed elevator.

His blood was only mixed and reacted with a dip of a blood nectar less than an hour ago, and he had no experience on confronting the strong magic from the plants directly.

And 2104 was a garden, no, a forest, with mixed scent of every possible scents ever, with thousands of voices.

Different pitches; low basses, colourful tenors and a few even screaming in the tone of sopranos.

But all of the voices sang the same word.

 _Chen_?

Jongdae fainted, right after the elevator’s door opened.

The plants’ strong magic was too much for him, an accidental makeshift Botanist.

Kyoong flapped helplessly, quickly went back and forth from 2103 and 2104.

The apartments were clearly discussing with themselves, their magic were vibrating restlessly. Kyoong hit both doors hard with its hardcovers in its hurry, pleaded for the apartments to do something before the elevator’s doors closed, didn’t want the elevator to bring the unconscious Jongdae to somewhere else. It kept putting itself between the elevator’s doors whenever they tried to close, as Kyoong tried to buy more time for some help, some miracle to happen.

2104’s door finally clicked open, when Kyoong was hitting itself hard on Jongdae’s body, a futile attempt to wake his owner.

Long green vines emerged from 2104, snaking fast and trailing themselves around Jongdae’s body, quickly but carefully lifted the Librarian from the elevator.

_Is he okay?_

_Bring him inside now, Hedera._

_Baekhyun’ll scold us if we do nothing._

The vines slowly carried Jongdae, 2104 opened its door wide to let the vines manoeuvred its way back inside the apartment, with Jongdae safely tied on them.

The plants gently laid Jongdae down on the couch, Kyoong flown close beside Jongdae and the other plants all turned themselves towards the Librarian.

_I think he’s okay._

_Yeah, I think so too._

_Let’s watch over him until Baekhyun return back home._

And 2104 immediately closed its door.

Together with 2103, they created another defensive barrier surrounding themselves.

Jongdae should be safe there, in 2104.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel extremely bad hanging this fic with 500 words hence I gave this first chapter away lol. okay, seriously, I'll continue this on early October xoxo
> 
> do tell me what to tag because I'm super bad at tagging dfghfdg


	3. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember, don't trust my planning.
> 
> the weird names in this chapter are plants' names.

His new neighbour should be arriving soon, Baekhyun thought to himself.

He closed the door of his apartment, eyed the Decorators who were busy putting things into the apartment next to his home.

The apartment number 2103 was empty for a while, the Guild was holding it for some rare mage. Baekhyun understood the motive, the whole apartment complexes were filled with powerful mages, rare or not. The apartment complexes were choosy, often rejected people who wanted to move into the community, only accepting those with impressive powers.

He already lived years in his apartment, even bought it from the Guild, completely satisfied with the apartment. He loved the apartment, and most importantly, his plants loved the apartment.

Getting along with a new neighbour wasn’t hard for him, but it was necessary since they would be sharing the same side of a wall.

The same wall would witness both apartments, belonged to both apartments, lived with two owners.

He should maintain a good relationship with his neighbour.

He didn’t think about his neighbour when he went to his laboratory that day, completely occupied with his own research.

He didn’t even think about it after he parked his car at the basement once he returned back to the apartment complex.

He was busy thinking about what to eat for dinner when the elevator stopped at the lobby.

He stopped thinking altogether when he saw the face emerged once the elevator’s doors opened up.

His whole world stopped.

* * *

When he remembered all the memories from his past lifetime, Baekhyun was already able to take care of himself.

He lived everyday with new revelations of those memories, pieces of them would come to him daily, in form of dreams.

He would cry every morning after he woke up. At first, his parents were worried about him.

His parents of this lifetime weren’t the same parents from his past lifetime. Somehow Baekhyun was grateful for that, for he couldn’t bear to be the same son that disappointed his parents an ancient time ago.

He managed to ensure his parents, his current parents, that he was fine. He was just trying to cope with the overwhelming voices of the plants.

His parents believed that. He decided not to tell anyone about the real reason.

He would never mention Chen to anyone else, and only to his plants, but only because plants were busybodies. And even that, he only told his plants after he kept them with him for such a long time.

_Why are you still alone?_

_Don’t you want to start a family?_

_We’re sorry to hear about Chen, Baekhyun. We hope that you’ll find peace one day._

Plants were romantic, Baekhyun learnt that early in his life.

They often offered themselves to him, so that he could use them to court anyone that he thought was interesting.

But Baekhyun learnt about Chen early in his life too.

He was okay living alone, content with the nonstop chatters of his plants.

Baekhyun did try to find Chen among the random faces for a few years, but somehow lost all hopes after he celebrated his 25th birthday.

He died when he was 25 years old in the past lifetime.

He lived longer this lifetime, accepted the fact that fate probably wanted to punish him to live without Chen in this lifetime.

He was 28 years old now, still praying for Chen’s well-being wherever Chen was now, but he was currently busy living his life as the Guild’s researcher.

Try imagine his shock now, when someone that looked exactly like Chen was literally standing in front of him, age probably the same with him...

With nothing indicating that he remembered Baekhyun at all.

* * *

And a fuming, flying thick hardcover book attacking him so suddenly.

Shocked was definitely an understatement.

Baekhyun suddenly met ‘Chen’, attacked by a thick book and...

"Kyoong! What are you doing? Stop that!"

Baekhyun’s heart could stop functioning immediately, if it wasn’t for the furious thick book which forced him to protect his face.

Kyoong? Did Chen remember him in this lifetime too? This ‘Chen’ even had the same voice with his Chen. Those things he noticed in that one second eyes meeting with the person in front of him brought him to the simplest conclusion; those weren’t similarities.

This person was definitely same with his Chen.

100% same.

Chen was here, rebirthed, just like him too.

"Kyoong! Behave!"

Baekhyun went rigid, he didn’t misbehave, he was only protecting his face from that mad thick book—

Then he realised that the book was the one that misbehaved. The book was the one that calmed down, and it finally dawn in Baekhyun that Kyoong _was_ the book.

So this new Chen really didn’t remember Baekhyun at all? But why this Chen named that mad book Kyoong?

"Oh my, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

‘Chen’ approached him, and Baekhyun immediately facing a terrible inner crisis.

"It's okay," _I’m not okay_ , "I'm okay." _I’m certainly not okay._

Baekhyun just wanted to cry.

He could feel his eyes tearing up now, he finally, _finally_ met Chen. Despite the fact that Chen didn’t remember him, fate really let them meet again.

Baekhyun teared up.

He took out his handkerchief, acted as if he wanted to check on his nose, it was painful but really, he just wanted to wipe his tears away quickly.

"Oh my, where's my behaviour?" Chen said, and his tears came again.

Chen was always so polite.

"No, no. Really, it's okay," _It’s not okay, I missed you so much._

The elevator stopped at floor 21, and only then that Baekhyun realised Chen didn’t press any button at all.

"I...I'm moving to 2103.”

No way. Baekhyun stopped functioning altogether.

Baekhyun could only nod, avoiding looking at Chen and stepped out of the elevator. He couldn’t think a simple thing at that moment.

He just wanted to sort out his feelings, because he was feeling way too much now. He stood in front of his door, but his apartment and plants chose today of all days to detect the distress happening within Baekhyun.

_Are you being threatened by this person, Baekhyun?_

Paeonia asked from the apartment and Baekhyun could hear the flower’s voice. Paeonia really loved to stay near the door so it could be the one to greet Baekhyun first and last among all of the plants, but right now Baekhyun couldn’t answer the flower because Chen spoke again.

"I guess I'm your new next door neighbour.”

Baekhyun was suddenly so overwhelmed with the feeling to hug this person, even if it was just the reincarnation of his lover, his fingers were trembling with so many peak of feelings. He pleaded to his apartment silently to please, _please_ , open up the damn door or watch him break down then and there.

“Look, I'm really sorry. My familiar never attack people without a reason before--"

"My door doesn't want to open because you're standing too close."

_Guys, this person is a not a threat,_ Baekhyun desperately flowed the words in his magic, almost slammed it to the door of his apartment.

Only to realise that he was being harsh to Chen.

“Sorry.”

Baekhyun wanted to say that Chen shouldn’t be the one to apologise, it was him that should apologise for what happened ancient ago, that Baekhyun was always sorry towards him, towards them.

But Chen just took a few steps backward, his apartment finally opened up the door, and Hedera was peeking carefully from behind the door.

Baekhyun couldn’t take it anymore, as his eyes teared up again, and quickly entered his apartment.

He closed the door shut, but he couldn’t take a step forward, chose to stand rigid in front of the door, eyes glossy.

_Baekhyun, why are you so sad?_

Hedera asked, the ivy slowly trailing itself around Baekhyun’s upper body, tried to soothe Baekhyun who was already trembling.

His other plants already turned their petals and branches towards him, all voicing out their concerns.

_Baekhyun? What happened?_

Baekhyun fell on his knees, sobbing terribly, even a word couldn’t come out from his mouth as he cried his heart out.

* * *

His apartment immediately strengthened its magic, still unsure if the new neighbour was a threat or just plain harmless.

Baekhyun was still crying when Chen's magic touched the joint wall of 2103 and 2104.

He was emotionally wrecked, he just sat on the floor and rested his back on the joint wall. He tried to feel Chen's magic, for he was longing to see Chen again, to stand and hug his lover, somehow thankful that Hedera trailed softly along his arms to ground him back to the reality.

His apartment was confused with Baekhyun's behaviour, so it resisted Chen's magic the moment it touched the wall.

"He's not a threat," Baekhyun whispered within his cries, hugging his knees tight and hid his face with both of his palms, tried to stop crying.

But he couldn't stop crying.

_Who is he, Baekhyun?_

Hedera asked, the other plants were waiting for the answer, even his apartment was listening, still deciding either to accept the new neighbour's presence or not.

"Chen."

_Chen?!_

_He is Chen?_

_Your Chen?_

Numerous voices asked him, Baekhyun could only swallow the tension in his throat, sniffled quickly while wiping away his tears.

"He's Chen," Baekhyun choked, starting to sob again. "But he doesn't know me."

_Oh no..._

_We're so sorry, Baekhyun..._

_Baekhyun, don't cry..._

His plants were extremely sad for him, Hedera hugged him tighter, some flowers released their calming scents. Baekhyun shook his head, tried to shake his tears too but they just kept on flowing.

His apartment was sad for him too, for he could feel his apartment's magic was touching Chen, trying to get to know who Chen was.

Baekhyun didn't know the interactions between Chen and his apartment, the walls were soundproof, but he knew his apartment chose to accept Chen, when he could feel a joint magic between the two apartments.

His apartment's magic touched him, Baekhyun just stared lifelessly into the inside of his apartment.

"I'll be fine..."

* * *

_"_ _Your love for him will be the death of Chen, Kyoong."_

_"Your love for him is really the reason of his death, Kyoong!"_

_"They're sentencing him to death because of you, Kyoong!"_

Baekhyun woke up gaping for air, didn't even know when he fell asleep on the couch.

The lavender at the loft must had been producing the sleep-inducing pollens, which caused Baekhyun to fall asleep during his breakdown. And those vines must be the ones who carried him to the couch. He should be thankful to his plants, really, the nap was necessary...

Except for him to dream of the past.

"Shit..." Baekhyun sighed. Hedera trailed from the dining table to the floor, the vine quickly approaching Baekhyun with a glass of water hugged around its stems. "Thank you..." he took the glass and drank the water in one go, for he could feel his throat was dry after all that crying just now.

It was silence for a few seconds, but Baekhyun knew his plants the best.

The whole apartment was tense, the apartment itself was tense, he counted the second to ten, and his plants finally spoke to him, all at the same time.

_Baekhyun, how are you feeling?_

_Baekhyun, we're sorry we put you to sleep!_

_Baekhyun, we're so sad to see you this sad!_

And more plants voiced out their concerns, Baekhyun gave them a small smile.

"Better..." Baekhyun caressed Hedera gently, the plant was indeed restless to see Baekhyun to suddenly behaving out of ordinary. "I'll be better."

_You had a nightmare?_

Helianthus asked in her soprano's tone, Baekhyun couldn't miss the sunflower's high pitch among the other softer voices.

"I did..." Baekhyun paused, immediately turned towards Callitris which he placed beside the TV, for the pine bonsai was older then Baekhyun himself, held more wisdom than Baekhyun himself, "and I think it's a sign for me to not let myself enter Chen's life again..."

The other plants stopped talking, swaying back and forth from Baekhyun to Callitris, waiting patiently for the pine bonsai to reply.

_What did you dream of?_ Callitris' deep voice asked him, and Baekhyun took a long breath.

“The past...how I’m the one who’s responsible for his death.”

_You know it’s not your fault, Baekhyun._

Baekhyun shook his head. He was the one who caused their deaths, nothing could say otherwise.

He looked at the clock, it was already 9 pm and he hadn’t eat anything yet. He remembered planning to eat something before Chen changed his life drastically, and now he didn’t really feel like eating anything, decided to go plucking some peppermint leaves to create a hot drink instead.

Baekhyun stood, left the living room and slowly walked towards the closed balcony, gave a small smile at the pots of herbs who greeted him worriedly, for their voices were one of the softest among the plants...

And that was when he felt the vibrations.

_Baekhyun! Baekhyun!_

Helianthus was screeching, and the other plants were shouting too in their tiny voices. Baekhyun immediately held the wall, felt the strong vibrations beneath his palm, confused on what was happening. His apartment was casted with a strong protection magic, outsider couldn’t attack his home easily.

_Baekhyun! What’s happening?!_

“Strelitzia! Protect the small flowers with your foliages!” He instructed the big plants, Hedera already creeped its way to Baekhyun, and he immediately reached out for the vines which tied its stems with his arm strongly. “Other stay rooted and don’t panic!”

The plants were nervous, shouted among themselves, and Baekhyun was trying to reach for his apartment's magic from where he was standing when suddenly Paeonia screamed so loud.

Paeonia never screamed that loud.

_Baekhyun! The books are flying!_

He immediately ran towards his living room, couldn't believe what he just heard, and halted on the spot once he saw what was happening to his living room, couldn't believe what he was currently seeing.

Strelitzias were protecting the smaller plants with their leaves, the bigger flowers were drooping and closing their petals, the smaller plants were shaking and crying as the vines tried to protect them with the barrier formed from their stems...

...because the apartment was filled with hundreds of flying books.

All of his bookshelves were empty, even his drawers filled with magazines were somehow pulled open and empty. His bedroom's door was closed, but Baekhyun could hear the sound of something hitting the door repetitively. Must be another batch of books trying to escape the room and joined the hundreds of books outside.

Hedera was busy hitting the books which were flying around them, Baekhyun frowned as he saw the scene and immediately bent down to take one of the books scattered on the floor after Hedera hit them.

The magic on the book was harmless. Extremely kind in fact.

The apartment's magic was extremely tense at the entrance, and Baekhyun had to check.

"Hedera, stop hitting them," the vine was confused with Baekhyun's order, didn't even let Baekhyun's arm go, "The magic in these books is good. Go help the other plants."

He patted the stems circling his arm, Hedera had no choice but to let go its stems. Baekhyun walked carefully, tried to avoid the flying books but to no avail because the books were extremely excited, flying in all kind of directions. To hell with that, he had already been slapped by a thick book a few hours ago, he just bear with the pain caused whenever the books bumped to him, and sighed heavily when he saw the entrance of his apartment.

The books were all hitting the door, as if they were trying to escape the apartment.

Philodendron was protecting Paeonia from the flying books, its leaves were sadly torn and some were even plucked out because of the aggressive books.

Baekhyun touched Philodendron kindly, the plant responded by opening their leaves, showing Baekhyun the trembling peony flower. He grabbed Paeonia together with its pot and hugged it close to him, let Philodendron climbed to his body and whispered guiltily to his plants.

"I'm so sorry."

He picked a few pots of smaller flowers, all were in distressed, and safely placed them in the closed balcony instead. He repeated the action until all of the fragile plants were safe in the closed balcony, satisfied that the vines were making their own barriers around the loft, protecting the plants on the loft with their sturdy stems.

That left him with Hedera and the big Strelitzias, but those plants were strong enough to protect themselves without his help.

He stood at the middle of his living room, eyes on the entrance of his apartment, utterly speechless to see the books were now crowding and floating in front of his door, a few were flying around the apartment aimlessly but already stopped hitting him or the plants.

"A mage that can make books react strongly to them..." he thought to himself, "is a Librarian."

Baekhyun never met a Librarian, for that kind of mage was rare, never really saw how the Librarian's magic exactly worked.

"Chen is a Librarian?"

He shouldn't be surprised. Chen always loved the books.

But why did his books reacted to Chen's magic too?

He stared at the entrance of his apartment, and after 10 minutes of staring and thinking, decided that the books would never calm down from their excitement, as long as Chen was still actively using his magic in his own apartment.

Baekhyun was exhausted, physically and mentally.

"I'll sleep on the coach with you guys here tonight," he told the plants, heard the humming noises from the closed balcony, but stopped when he reached his bedroom's door. "Hedera," he called out, and the plant immediately crawled to his foot. "Catch any books that escape this room."

The plant hummed, and Baekhyun took a deep breath.

He opened and closed the door in a record time.

* * *

Baekhyun thought that the magic would calm down some time by midnight.

He was totally wrong.

He just lay on the coach, staring at the high ceiling where sometimes a random book would fly happily in the empty space.

He already turned off the lights, took a pot of Ipomoea earlier from the closed balcony after wishing the other plants good night and let Ipomoea stay close beside him, the moonflower's petals shone dimly in the living room.

Chen's magic was calm and kind, had its own warmth in the way it danced together with the books, and most of all, the magic now brought all sort of familiarity to Baekhyun.

He cried silently on the couch.

Everything was suddenly becoming too much, his senses heightened and all that he could feel was Chen's magic; around him, above him, in the air that he breathed, under him, all over him.

"I can't do this," he immediately sat up on the coach, tear streak evident on the side of his face. "Should I find a new apartment?" he turned towards Ipomoea, the nocturnal plant swayed their petals sadly left and right.

_We love this place, Baekhyun..._

He sighed heavily. He loved this place too.

He looked at the entrance which was still crowded with floating books, Hedera trailed on Baekhyun's lap slowly from the wall, the vine was always so clingy with him.

"Can I look at him again?" The plants were silent, didn't know how to answer such a simple yet extremely heavy question. "I want to see him again."

Baekhyun stood, wiped the lingering tears from his eyes and walked towards the entrance. Hedera followed him, whispering when it asked Baekhyun.

_What do you want to do, Baekhyun?_

He knew what he wanted to do, he knew what he really wanted to do the most in this life, on this moment.

"Even for just a second, I want to see him again."

* * *

When he knocked on the door, Chen's apartment wasn't surprised.

Mages rarely had visitors on their first day moving in and rarely had housewarming parties, solely because the apartments were sensitive with unknown people.

But Baekhyun wasn't a stranger to his neighbour's apartment and it must already known what was happening in Baekhyun's place.

Chen's surprised face greeted him, and all Baekhyun wanted to do was to caress those frowns away.

Baekhyun bit his own tongue from saying anything stupid.

“Uh, hi?”

_Only a hi? No more I love you?_

“You’re a Librarian?” This was a stupid move to see Chen again, Baekhyun couldn't even look at Chen for more than a second without wanting to hug his past lover tight, so he looked at some stupid patch on Chen's shirt.

“I don’t know how you know that, but yes, I’m a Librarian."

That explained his books attractions towards Chen's magic, but how strong the magic was that it reached his apartment too?

Baekhyun chose to think about his plants' wellbeing, instead of his own. He thought about the stressed plants, the tired vines, the worries in the flowers' sways.

He finally looked at Chen's eyes, almost weak to his knees to finally look at those eyes properly.

“When will your magic calm down?”

“Huh?”

_My plants' wellbeing_ , Baekhyun chanted in his head. He knocked on his apartment's door, knew his apartment would understand immediately.

The door was pulled open by itself, and all those extremely energetic books of his flown from his apartment and right into Chen's apartment.

Chen was so shocked, he was speechless, his every attention on the flying books and Baekhyun took the chance to look at Chen from head to toe.

His heart hurt so much.

“I—,” Chen spoke again when the last book entered the apartment, and Baekhyun rebuilt his faux annoyed behaviour, “This has never happened before, I swear. I swear I only linked the library’s magic with my books—“

Chen's voice was too much, Baekhyun just wanted to cry again.

“I can’t sleep because they’re flying around the house, trying to go to your place."

Chen looked at him, frowning. Guilty and confusion were clear on his face, Baekhyun suddenly felt guilty too.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll collect all of them for you imme—“

_Too much, too much, too much._

“Just give them back tomorrow, I really need a sleep now.”

“But—“

Baekhyun immediately entered his own apartment and closed the door, fell on his knees, clutching his pyjama tightly.

Everything was too much.

He cried again.

* * *

Baekhyun could only sleep after the lavenders worked their magic on him again.

He woke up early, the skies were still dark when he already finished buttoning his white shirt. He only munched a piece of bread, took all of his belongings and ready to leave, but only to stop in a sudden halt in front of the door.

He was so focused on avoiding and not meeting Chen today, he totally forgot about his books.

"Help the others to go back to their original places. Tell the other vines to help you," he told Hedera, as he took a pen and a paper from his bag. "Once he return back the books, can you help me put them back to the shelves and drawers? I'm going to be late today," Baekhyun looked up, and Hedera trailed the wall, forming the word _yes_ on the wall. "Thank you, you're the best. Stick this note with the sap in the kitchen, I'm in a hurry. Take care of the others, okay?"

_Okay Baekhyun. Be safe._

Baekhyun smiled at his plants before he left his apartment.

* * *

He wasn't exactly in a hurry.

But yeah, he was in a hurry to keep his sanity in check.

He parked his car in the open space lot, walked with extreme hurry towards the tall building, didn't even greet the guards as usual and climbed the staircase instead of waiting for the elevator.

When he reached the fifth floor, he ringed the bell on the entrance right below the small camera a few times, 100% sure that someone already arrived at the floor, or probably never left at all, tapped his shoes repetitively while waiting for the answer through the intercom.

30 seconds passed, and he finally heard the sigh.

"This is too early, Byun."

"Let me in, Kyungsoo."

He heard the heavy sigh again, and the soft sound of the door was being unlocked.

Baekhyun immediately pushed the door, the floor was still empty and only a few lights were on, but then he already knew where Kyungsoo's office was located.

He didn't even knock when he turned the door's knob.

"I'm busy--" Kyungsoo started but immediately stopped when he saw Baekhyun. Five seconds were all Kyungsoo needed to stare into Baekhyun's eyes, gaped for another five seconds, before he found his voice again. "Oh shit..."

"Yes shit," Baekhyun answered, plopped himself on the couch lifelessly. "Help me, Kyungsoo."

* * *

They weren't supposed to be best friends.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo didn't even have mutual friends, they even came from different cities.

Their personalities collided like yin and yang, everything about them didn't match at all.

All it took was Baekhyun's accidental visit to a grocery store, wanted to cook something grand once in a while, when someone bumped into his shoulder and muttered the word sorry, and he told the person not to mind it.

Only for the person to drop a ketchup bottle on the floor, eyes starting to fill with tears, didn’t even care about the red sauce splattered on his shoes and pants.

"I'm sorry."

The person only bumped to his shoulder, but he was crying as if he was in extreme pain and Baekhyun immediately panicked. "Wait, did I hurt you? Are you okay--"

"I'm so sorry that it happened to you," the man said and immediately hugged Baekhyun, leaving him in total shock. "I'm so sorry that I saw them without your permission."

Baekhyun's body went rigid, as he breathed heavily in the man's embrace.

"What did you saw?"

The man sniffed, trembled, and scared.

"Your loss. And your death."

* * *

Kyungsoo was simply hiding in a plain sight.

He became a lawyer, acted as if he was a normal human.

The truth was simple. He made himself ordinary, but his power was extremely extraordinary.

Kyungsoo could see someone's past, just by looking at their eyes.

Of course the power was overwhelming, and it turned him into an introvert, because he didn't want to see people and see their pasts for no particular reason at all.

The power helped him the most in the court.

He knew who was guilty, who wasn't, and which cases were just interventions of some unfortunate fate. He knew how the crime took place, the accomplice, and what actually happened when he sat inside the court, eyes looking at every person involved. Everything revealed themselves there, and Kyungsoo was only using his power for a good reason.

Even when he could see someone's past, he wouldn't make any remarks on it towards the person, because it wasn't his place to say so and everyone had a history of their own.

But Baekhyun was simply different, because Baekhyun was the only person that he could see so far, beyond this lifetime and towards the past life, the whole memories flashed on Kyungsoo's eyes in that mere few seconds.

Baekhyun's past life was so heart breaking.

He finally calmed down, after Baekhyun apologised to the grocery's store workers for any inconvenience they caused, and after Baekhyun basically dragged him to a coffee shop nearby and forced him to sit on a booth, Baekhyun himself sat beside him.

"You can see the past?" Baekhyun immediately asked.

"Look. I don't mean to see them," he looked at Baekhyun, almost teared up again when he saw the flashes of the sad memories. "I just, able to see them. I can't avoid it."

Of course Kyungsoo felt guilty.

If he was in Baekhyun's shoes, he didn't want people to see his past too.

* * *

But Kyungsoo saw them.

Initially, Baekhyun didn't want other people to know. His plants might be a bunch of gossipers, but they knew better to keep Baekhyun's secret with themselves and they did their job well.

But when Kyungsoo came to his life, cried for his pain, and eventually patted his shoulder to tell him that the pain was valid, Baekhyun somehow felt the need to actually voice out all of his sadness away.

And Kyungsoo stayed with him for hours in the coffee shop, became a patient listener and a trustful companion.

The rest was history.

"I think I want to avoid him," Baekhyun said, Kyungsoo handed him a tin of coffee and he took it. "I've been thinking all night, and there's nothing good will happen if he enter my life again."

Kyungsoo sat beside him, silent for a while to give some time for himself to think of any good suggestions to propose to Baekhyun.

"He's your next door neighbourhood and apparently working for the Guild too. It's not going to be easy to avoid him."

"Well, I've been in the Guild for years and I've never saw him, so I guess we'll never meet each other during work. And if I go to work early and return back home late, I'm sure we'll never cross paths."

"You sound as if he's following the 8 to 5 working hours."

"He is a Librarian. Librarian couldn't work overtime, their magic will drain them."

Kyungsoo nodded slowly, felt pity for his best friend. "But you've been searching for him for such a long time."

Baekhyun took a deep breath, his whole body was so damn tense.

"I have found him. And he's living next door. What a funny life," he paused, scratched the body of the tin lightly with his nail. "And I think that's enough. Knowing he's fine, alive and well. He doesn't need to know the past, Kyungsoo. I don't want him to know."

Kyungsoo stared at the side of Baekhyun's face, noticed the tell-tales of tiredness on his best friend’s face. What Baekhyun felt, he would never know, but he knew his best friend was currently feeling a lot.

"You have me, if you need anything. You can stay at my house for the time being too," he offered instead.

Baekhyun just scoffed. "And let my plants suffer without my presence? No, thank you."

"Just say you want to stay close with your beloved," Baekhyun immediately hit Kyungsoo's shoulder, eyes bewildered. "What? I'm not wrong, am I?"

"I...I just really missed him. Missing him, still."

"Oh, Baekhyun. What should I do with you?"

How could Baekhyun answer that, when he himself didn't know what to do now?

"Let me take a nap here for a few minutes. Anyway, your cactuses are complaining that you haven't water them for a while now."

"Shit."

Kyungsoo immediately stood, rushed towards his cactuses.

* * *

Baekhyun tried to prolong the time to finally go back home, in hope that he wouldn't meet Chen again.

He learnt that Chen now was named as Kim Jongdae, a Librarian at the Grand Library, a reader of the important journals often be classified as top secrets.

Funny how they were assigned to be in the same committee, but he shouldn't really be surprised when the special committee was created to protect mages with rare magic from oppression by the Magic Ministry.

But how surprised he was, to see Chen again, when the elevator stopped at the lobby.

Chen didn't look happy at all to see him, but Baekhyun couldn't blame him, when he didn't even greet Chen in the meeting.

They rode in silence, Baekhyun stared at Chen's back profile, almost wanted to back hug him, but just shook his head to clear his mind.

When the elevator reached their floor, he thought that the night would somehow end peacefully compared to last night, only to be surprised again when Chen suddenly turned around and blocking the elevator's doors.

“What is your problem with me?”

Baekhyun had no problem with Chen, but Baekhyun had thousands of problems with himself.

“I don’t have any problem with you.”

Chen's face was tinted with red, clearly from anger, and all Baekhyun wanted to do now was to apologise.

For every single thing.

“You’re friendly with everyone, except me. If it’s because of what Kyoong did to you yesterday, then again, I’m sor—“

_You should never befriend me_. “Do we need to be friends?”

Chen was surprised with him, Baekhyun had to be firm for their own good.

“Excuse me?”

“We are neighbours, we work for the Guild, we are some kind of rare mages, and suddenly we need to be friends?” _I'm sorry._

“I— Do we need a reason to be friends?”

“Again, do we need to be friends? I don’t want to befriend you, you can’t accept that?” _I'm so sorry._

“It’s okay if you don’t want to befriend me, but at least be respectful.”

“At what occasion am I disrespectful to you?” _Love, I'm so sorry._

Chen was furious, Baekhyun could feel the anger, and he was angry with himself too, almost push Chen away because he couldn't handle hurting Chen anymore--

“Fine. Whatever suits you.”

Chen walked furiously towards his apartment, the door immediately opened to let Chen in and Chen closed the door angrily once he was inside, leaving Baekhyun in the elevator.

Baekhyun was trembling, as he clenched his palms painfully, as he tried with all his might to stay rational.

_Love, I'm so sorry, I need to do it for you._

* * *

Baekhyun was restless the whole morning, since the special committee's meeting would be held at the Guild's special building, at the building where his laboratory was located.

He would be meeting Chen again, at his workplace.

It felt personal, the thought that Chen would be seeing the place where he was working and associate it with him, would know now and feel the environment that Baekhyun felt while at work.

Too personal.

He couldn't focus on his work that morning. He went to other laboratories and talked with other researchers to ease his mind, played with his plants in his personal pantry, and even entertained their request to change their places around.

Moving rooms in the building was tricky, but Baekhyun already moved his own laboratory and pantry for more than hundreds times. The rooms moved like a Rubik's cube, all he needed was some mechanical knowledge and agreement with the rooms that he wanted to change place, and the rest happened with magic.

Just before the meeting started, his personal pantry finally satisfied to take the initial place of the public pantry.

When the meeting started, he immediately spotted Chen next to Sehun.

He knew Sehun, almost ready to give the younger man a smile in case he turned to look at him, but he frowned when he finally had a good look of Chen's face.

Chen looked so tired, and Baekhyun just wanted to know what was making Chen looked like that.

But of course Baekhyun didn't ask Chen what happened, he listened to the meeting and tried to give his opinions on some things, but frowned again when he saw that Chen still had the tired face, didn't react at all towards him.

Did Chen really had no interest with him in this life?

Baekhyun sighed, almost lost interest with the meeting, having a stupid unwanted anxiety with the thoughts that he would stay as the bad neighbour in Chen's eyes, when suddenly Chen stood carefully, mouthed the word pantry at the head of the Guild, and Baekhyun exhaled all of his tension out of his body.

Chen was just hungry.

* * *

All plants were busybodies, all plants were gossipers.

They talked a lot, every time, anytime, everywhere.

They could talk with each other even if they were separated by the wall, would talk even beyond the walls, because they were busybodies.

By time, Baekhyun knew how to tune out the plants' voices, to let the voices pass by as background noises. He greeted plants everywhere he went, befriended the plants in this entire building, but most of the times, he just smiled and let the plants talked, while he focused on his own work.

But of course, Baekhyun still could listen to them.

_He went to a personal pantry? Who told you?_

_Oh! Those are Baekhyun's plants!_

_Someone went to Baekhyun's pantry?_

And he was extremely sensitive when it came to his own name, immediately turned his attention at the pot of Yucca placed at the corner of the meeting room.

He was the only Botanist in the special committee, so it was acceptable when he suddenly stood and approached the lonely Yucca.

"Who is entering my personal pantry, Yucca?"

The plant vibrated, probably nervous.

_The guy who went out from this room just now._

"Shit," Baekhyun cursed, immediately exited the meeting room and ran towards his personal pantry, didn't even excuse himself first.

It was his mistake, he changed the pantries' places and he forgot to tell the others about it before he went to the meeting.

There were a lot of things that he put in the pantry, not only food, but also his research's materials.

He could only hope that Chen didn't touch anything forbidden, almost went out of breath when he reached his pantry, almost had a heart attack when he saw Chen was holding a container of blood nectar.

“What are you doing?!”

Chen was shocked to hear the sudden high pitched scold, dropped the container which thankfully saved by a Ficus.

“Holy, you scared me.”

Baekhyun was furious at himself, couldn’t stop himself from scowling. He really should tell somebody of the new place for the public pantry before the meeting started.

"What are you doing here?" Stupid question, when all he wanted to ask was if Chen was okay.

"It’s a pantry, obviously I’m here to eat something.”

“This is my personal pantry!” _Stupid, Baekhyun, stupid! How could Chen even know that?_

“But the staff just now said the pantry—“

“The pantries changed their places with each other just now,” the plants were all talking, but Baekhyun's attention was only on the container of the blood nectar, as he quickly took it from the Ficus. “Did you touch this?”

_He dipped his finger on it, Baekhyun._

_He tasted it!_

_He already ate them, Baekhyun._

Shit.

“No. I’m just looking at it because of the interesting color.”

Baekhyun was so angry to himself, and now that Chen was also lying to him, his anger amplified.

“You’re lying. The plants said you put your finger inside and tasted it!”

Chen gaped, before he spoke again. “Look. In my defence, I don’t know what is inside! Just a taste, I’m not drinking it! And I skipped my lunch, I’m freaking hungry right now, I thought this is the public pantry, and I just want to eat something!”

The microwave sounded, Baekhyun was filled with another horror, afraid of what else did Chen touch and taste in his pantry. “And what are you heating inside? My plants?”

“By Lord of Books, do you hate me so much?” he didn't mean to be harsh, even his plants were scowling him, but Baekhyun was so angry and anxious now, the way Chen just carelessly opened the microwave wasn't helping him at all. “Noodle! Okay, fine! Your noodle! I’m sorry I took your noodle and heated them, all without your permission! I’ll pay for this noodle—“

Baekhyun just didn't want to cause any harm to Chen anymore, he already did enough of that a lifetime ago.

“Get out. Take that noodle and get out of my pantry.”

Chen was obviously angry at him, and Baekhyun was willing to take all of those anger.

As long as Chen was safe.

When Chen left his pantry with the noodle cup, Baekhyun immediately hit his head repetitively on the refrigerator.

What a stupid mistake.

* * *

When Baekhyun returned to the meeting room, Chen wasn't there yet.

The others were asking him if everything was fine, and he just responded with a smile.

But when Chen re-entered the room, he just walked straight towards the head of the Guild, whispered a few words, and went back to his seat only to collect that flying book before he excused himself.

That was probably for the best, Baekhyun thought. He was sure Chen wouldn't stand to be in the same room with him again, but he couldn't help to watch Chen while he was leaving the room.

Chen should be alright, right?

But the blood nectar that he made was extremely potent...

* * *

He returned home at 7 pm that day.

Even after knowing that Chen was probably already at home because he excused himself early during the meeting, something made Baekhyun totally restless, as if something bad would happen.

Blood nearly drained from his face, when he could hear his plants were calling out for him when he was still in the elevator, after they could sense his presence as he was getting closer to his floor.

_Baekhyun! Hurry!_

_It's Chen!_

_He fainted, Baekhyun!_

Baekhyun exited the elevator immediately when it arrived, rushed towards his apartment where the door was already opened, and almost fainted himself when he saw Chen lay unconscious on the couch inside his living room.

"What happened to him?!” Baekhyun asked, quickly kneeled beside Chen, checking his body once for any injuries, anything to tell him what was wrong with Chen. The flying book flapped nonstop all around Baekhyun, but Baekhyun didn’t have any time to feel threatened by Chen’s familiar.

_He reached the floor conscious but fainted right away after the elevator’s doors were opened._

Hedera answered, and Baekhyun cursed loudly.

“Shit! Bring Rosa here and pour a glass of water for me!” he told the vine, the vine immediately trailed somewhere else, and he turned around to look at Chen’s familiar. “Hey, book. Do you trust me? Wait. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m going to do something to your owner, so please help me here,” Baekhyun was serious, and the book continued to flap itself in front of him. “He has any allergies? Plants allergies? Medicine allergies? Hit my head if he has one.”

Chen’s breathing were shallow, with sweat all around his face, yet his lips trembling as if in extreme cold and his whole skin was pale.

Chen was transforming himself into a Botanist.

The book just flapped nervously in front of Baekhyun, the plants were tensed while watching the two of them.

“I hope you understand what I am saying,” Baekhyun sighed, quickly rolled up his sleeves. Hedera arrived with a pot of roses circled around its stems and a glass of water around another long stems. Baekhyun quickly sliced his index finger using the thorn on the roses’ branch. “He drank my blood earlier. I mixed my blood with a nectar and he drank that blood nectar,” Baekhyun explained to anything that were listening to him now, which apparently were every plants around him, both apartments and the flying book. “So I’m going to give him my blood,” Baekhyun moved closer towards Chen, his other hand adjusted the pillow under Chen’s head. “Because my blood is the only antigen to stop him from accidentally gain a power of a Botanist.”

He pressed on the sliced skin harder, and dabbed it carefully on Chen’s lips.

_This better work_ , Baekhyun silently prayed, took the glass of water, dipped his finger into the water and dabbed it on Chen’s lips again.

He kept on dabbing his blood and water continuously on Chen’s lips, anxiously counted the time on the clock and waited for any reactions, always wiping off the sweat on Chen’s forehead, always checking the signs that his blood would somehow ease Chen’s conditions, when finally, _finally_ , Chen’s breathing was calmer, no longer in spasms, and he was sweating less with a healthier skin colour.

Baekhyun sighed heavily in relief, Kyoong opened up itself on Chen’s chest, almost as if he was hugging his owner, all the other plants were finally swaying again.

“Thank you for not giving up,” Baekhyun whispered, slowly slumped his forehead on Chen’s arm, fingers grabbing Chen’s hand tightly. “Thank you love, for always stay so strong.”

* * *

Baekhyun put the blanket over Chen, cradled Chen’s head softly before fluffing the pillow underneath, slowly put Chen’s head on the pillow again, and looked at Chen’s peaceful face for a few seconds.

The last of his tension finally faded away.

He decided not to move the Librarian to the bed, just let him rest on the couch for the time being until he finally wake up himself.

Baekhyun wasn’t a Healer, but he already saw many cases involving blood nectar, and Chen was showing a good recovery from the liquid’s reaction.

He instructed the plants to decorate themselves beautifully, let the lavender scented the whole apartment and continued to soothe Chen to sleep, grabbed some biscuits from the kitchen to replenish himself and finally sat on the grand chair right in front of the coach where Chen was currently resting.

Kyoong, who was guarding right above Chen, it didn’t have any eyes, but it was obviously looking at Baekhyun now.

Baekhyun looked back at the book.

“Look,” Baekhyun started, glanced for a second to make sure that Chen was still sleeping, “I don’t know why, but I feel like you know me.”

Kyoong kept floating above Chen, still looking straight at Baekhyun.

“Do you know me...Kyoong?” Baekhyun winced. “Hell. There are millions among millions of name in this world and he’s a Librarian who knows a lot of words, why must he chose to name you Kyoong?” Baekhyun crossed his arms, the book was unimpressed with him and he was unimpressed with the book too.

There were battling stares between Baekhyun and Kyoong, before Hedera slowly crawled on Baekhyun’s lap.

_Can you feel it, Baekhyun?_

The vine asked, and Baekhyun continued to stare at the book.

“It’s reeking with ancient magic since the first time I saw it, it’s impossible to miss it.”

Kyoong’s magic was ancient, Baekhyun might already die for hundreds of years, but he would never forget the taste of the ancient magic, for he and his lover faced death because of the ancient magic.

Kyoong was ancient itself, and Baekhyun was almost sure Kyoong came from the same time with his past lifetime.

That came to the question which was haunting Baekhyun ever since he met the book.

What was the book to them in the past?

* * *

_Baekhyun, he’s slowly waking up._

The voice woke Baekhyun from his slept, he quickly looked at Chen and saw the man stirred, slowly awakened from his sleep and Baekhyun glanced at the clock to check the time.

5 am.

He fell asleep on the grand chair, tired from all the things that happened, tired from the way Kyoong guarded Chen from Baekhyun like he wasn't the one who saved Chen, only for both of them to fall asleep sometime around midnight.

The book was still sleeping fine on Chen's chest.

Baekhyun stared at Chen, all his restlessness and worries faded slowly, when Chen turned his head sleepily, eyes wandering around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

"Where am I..." Chen mumbled to himself, holding Kyoong on his chest and his face shown pure confusion.

Baekhyun didn't answer immediately, let Chen's eyes found him first, watched with silent awe when Chen's face changed from confuse to shock.

Chen didn't look at him in hatred, and Baekhyun felt some relief in that.

"You're in my apartment," Baekhyun finally answered. "You fainted in the elevator."

Chen stared at Baekhyun for a long time without blinking, and when he finally remembered what happened yesterday, he quickly sat up, Kyoong fell to his lap but the tired book was still sleeping. He turned his whole body towards Baekhyun, the blanket was crumpled because Chen was holding it so tight.

"I'm so sorry," Chen's face was terrified. "I'm terribly sorry. Did you find me?"

"No, my plants found you. They brought you here," Baekhyun stood, took a glass filled with yellow coloured liquid and handed it to Chen. "Drink this, it's a tonic from the flower sap. I already gave you the antigen while you're unconscious, I think it works well," Chen took the glass, his face was still nervous. "Can you hear soft voices? Or any strong smell?"

Chen focused for a while, knew that Baekhyun was asking him if he could hear the voices of the plants, noticed a pot of sunflower at the end of the couch so he looked at the sunflower and tried to hear the weird voices, just like yesterday...

"Nothing."

"Thank goodness," Baekhyun exhaled out his relief. "It's a side effect from the blood nectar that you tasted yesterday, I'm so sorry you have to experience that."

Chen was staring at him in surprise, as if he couldn't believe that Baekhyun just apologized to him.

"No...It's my mistake anyway--"

"Don't forget to drink that, you'll feel better later. Take your time to recover," Baekhyun immediately went to the kitchen, his heart was pounding wild and he couldn't function properly now that he and Chen were talking like civilized humans.

"Baekhyun-ssi."

Baekhyun stopped walking, closed his eyes for a second, before he turned back to look at Chen. "Hmm?"

"Thank you so much for saving me. And tell your plants that I'm truly grateful for their help too."

Baekhyun felt like a jerk in that exact moment, for he treated Chen so bad from their first meeting but Chen didn't even look like he was holding any grudges to Baekhyun.

"It's okay, I'm partially responsible too," Baekhyun replied and crossed his arms, for he didn't know what else to do.

Chen also just stared at him without any words, the awkwardness slowly engulfing them and Chen chose to speak again. "Well, I'll leave after finishing this drink. I have a meeting at 8 am."

He proceeded to drink the liquid, winced a little when he swallowed it and Baekhyun blamed himself for not reminding the Librarian that the sap was super sweet.

"It's still 5 in the morning, you're not going to be late anyway," Baekhyun rested his back on the wall, chose to continue be a civilized person and tried to hold a conversation even though his heart was running wild.

Chen shook his head. "A friend of mine, my assigned driver, isn't available today. And I actually need to go to the Ministry. You know how terrible the traffic jam at the government buildings in the morning."

That perked Baekhyun's interest, anything that needed involvement of both Ministry and the Guild interested him greatly.

"You're meeting the Minister?" he wildly guess.

"What? No. I'll never meet the Minister alone," Chen finally finished the yellow liquid and put the glass on the table in front of him. "Kris Wu, one of the officials. Not sure if you know him."

Baekhyun's whole body went stiff, goose bumps formed all over his skin, as he started to panic.

"What...what is your business with him?"

Chen didn't notice how Baekhyun's face change to all seriousness, as he was busy folding the blanket. "I often read for him. I guess he wants me to read another journals for him."

"Don't go."

That alerted Chen, as he put the blanket slowly on the coach, all eyes on Baekhyun.

"Why?"

"He's not a good person."

Chen looked as if he was holding a smile when he replied. "We finally have a same opinion on something and surprisingly it's about Kris Wu. But no, I have to meet him. He might give off all those bad person vibes, but he has the most interesting journals with him."

"Then I'll go with you."

Chen didn't even bother to hide his surprise.

"Don't you have your own work to be done?"

"I can do them later. I'll drive you to the Ministry, I'll accompany you to meet Kris Wu. Just," Baekhyun paused, "Just don't go alone."

Chen's face turned into pure curiosity, but hell, Baekhyun would never tell him more than that.

They looked at each other for a few seconds in silence, Chen was holding the sleeping Kyoong on his lap now, clearly debating on either to go with Baekhyun or not.

Baekhyun knew that he proved himself to be a jerk successfully all this time since they met, and now he thoroughly regretted that, now that Chen was having a second thought on him.

"Okay, 6.30 am,” Chen finally replied.

Baekhyun wanted to cry out of pure relief. "Okay."

Chen looked at the clock on the wall and finally stood, ready to leave the apartment.

"Thank you, Baekhyun-ssi. I'm going to my apartment now," he bowed his head a little, Baekhyun did the same.

"Okay."

After a few seconds of silence, Chen's eyes widened like saucers, filled with incredulity.

"Do you even know my name?" Chen asked him, Baekhyun couldn't even say anything, didn’t want to answer, in case he would give the wrong answer at a wrong time.

_Your name is Chen._

Chen sighed when Baekhyun didn't reply. He probably thought Baekhyun didn't know his name.

"I'm Kim Jongdae."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a glimpse of the past or save that for later?


	4. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> extreme slow burn coming up!

The ride to the Ministry was silent with less words exchanged between them.

Kyoong stood rigid on Jongdae's lap, its attention was on Baekhyun for the whole ride.

"You're not cute like this, Kyoong..." Jongdae— Baekhyun trained his brain to name this person as Jongdae, Jongdae whispered to his familiar, but Baekhyun made no comment on that.

Baekhyun was so busy thinking about Kris Wu, he didn't even think about the silence in the car, he didn't even see the way Jongdae looked at him once in a while.

When Baekhyun parked his car on the parking lot, he tapped his finger on the steering wheel, the doors were still locked, the time blinked 0742 in red on the car dashboard, and Jongdae waited for him.

He unfolded his official Guild’s suit jacket that he put on his lap and wore it silently, Baekhyun was wearing the same navy blue suits too, for it was compulsory for them to wear it for official work at the Magic Ministry.

"I'm not in a good term with Kris Wu," Baekhyun finally said, but he didn't look at Jongdae, who was still buttoning his jacket. "We fought, we are still fighting, but I'll behave. I'll try."

"May I know why?" Jongdae asked, he sounded so careful when he asked.

Baekhyun sighed. "You knew better that the mages from the Guild rarely get along with the mages from the Ministry. And I've been with the Guild for such a long time already."

He finally looked at Jongdae, looked at the understanding in Jongdae's eyes.

"Then do you really want to be here if you hate him so much?"

Hell, this was where Baekhyun wanted to be the most in his whole life, by Jongdae's side.

"Of course. I need to look out for my fellow Guild mages," he finally turned off the engine.

They exited the car, Jongdae led the way towards the Magic Ministry's building, and held Kyoong close to his chest. Baekhyun himself had been to the building for a numerous times, but one shouldn't memorize a magical building.

Their palms were shone with the Guild's arcane mark when the guards inspected them.

"I'm here for Kris Wu. A meeting at the building's library," Jongdae told the guards. "The book is my familiar, and he is," Jongdae paused, Baekhyun almost introduced himself to the guards when Jongdae continued. "My companion."

Companion. Safe answer.

The guards nodded. "Step into the capsule, I'll send you guys to the library," one of the guards instructed, pointed at the big capsule resembled like an elevator.

But it wasn't an ordinary elevator.

It wasn't something out of ordinary for mages with teleportation magic to become guards, and certainly not surprising for guards in the Ministry's building itself to possess such magic.

Jongdae stepped into the capsule, Baekhyun was following him close, and the guard held out his hand in front of the capsule.

"Ready?"

They didn't even have the time to reply the guard, for the guard just casted his magic immediately after he finished his words.

Teleportation was never a comfortable experience to begin with, and added with the sudden effect, Baekhyun just wanted to curse out loud.

Baekhyun's vision blacked out for a second, the usual side effect of a teleportation, and he blinked the blindness away. "I swear one day I'll end this pl--"

Jongdae held Baekhyun's arm out of sudden. "Careful with your words, he sent us directly to the middle of the library."

Lights finally entered Baekhyun's eyes again, and he was greeted with rows and rows of bookshelves, the smell of papers and ink hit his nose hard.

"You're not affected by that?" Baekhyun asked in awe.

"I told you, I often read for him," Jongdae answered, nodded at the other Librarians who spotted them, and started to walk, fast.

"Do you know where Kris Wu is now?" Baekhyun whispered, tailing Jongdae so close.

"He only read old journals, so of course he's at the historical archive."

"You know where the historical archive is?"

Jongdae immediately stopped walking, Baekhyun almost bumped into him.

"Baekhyun-ssi," he turned around, eyes all serious. "I'm a Librarian. If the plants are talking to you, the books are talking to me."

"Ah, sorry," Baekhyun apologised, and Jongdae started to walk again towards a corner, and when the smell of old papers were getting stronger, Baekhyun felt more and more restless.

Kris Wu wasn't someone you could miss easily in the crowds, and he was certainly someone you couldn't take your eyes off when he was sitting alone.

He was sitting near a big table, a bundle of thick papers was placed on the table, and he certainly looked unimpressed.

"What is this person doing here with you?" Kris immediately stood, his already sharp eyes somehow became sharper when he saw Baekhyun.

"Oh, now I can't come here with a colleague?" Baekhyun spat back, overtook Jongdae, and held his chin up high.

"I don't remember asking you to come here," Kris replied, all menacing.

"I don't remember getting a restriction order from the Ministry."

"I'm here to work." Jongdae sounded fed up when both men turned their heads towards him, as if he wasn't even there at the first place.

"I can't work if this Botanist is here!" Kris almost shouted.

Baekhyun wanted to reply, but Jongdae immediately spoke again. "Baekhyun-ssi, you said you'll behave," Jongdae whispered, and Baekhyun could only bit his lower lip. "Take Kyoong with you and go somewhere, read something. I'll link with Kyoong's magic later once I've already finished my job," he put the book on Baekhyun's chest, both Kyoong and Baekhyun looked like they wanted to refuse Jongdae's words, but Jongdae continued to push Kyoong softly onto Baekhyun's chest, eyes on Baekhyun's. "Behave, both of you. Take good care of the Guild's name."

Baekhyun hissed, realized the truth in Jongdae's words, and started to touch Kyoong hesitantly with his fingers.

The rule about a familiar was simple in the building.

A mage's familiar shouldn't be moving around in the Magic Ministry's building freely, and it must be guarded at every second by its owner or a mage it was comfortable with.

Usually, Jongdae would leave Kyoong under Chanyeol's supervision because just like him, Kyoong wasn't fond of Kris Wu. During their first meeting, Kyoong sat itself on top of the journals that Kris Wu wanted Jongdae to read and refused to move, Jongdae had to reschedule the whole reading session because Kyoong legit flown noisily around them that Jongdae couldn't even concentrate even for a second.

The book was tensed when Baekhyun first touched it, but slowly, it relaxed itself on Baekhyun's chest.

Jongdae sighed in relief. "Go, but don't leave the library," he patted Baekhyun's arm twice.

* * *

The library was huge, and Baekhyun hated the historical section the most.

Kyoong and Chen were never mentioned in any past journals, none that Baekhyun ever read of.

He would understand if the historians deleted their existences, but it still left Baekhyun with an extremely bitter taste whenever he thought about it.

He ended up going to the plants section, chose a book that he hadn't read yet and slumped down against the shelf to sit on the floor instead.

Kyoong was resting itself on Baekhyun's chest, and Baekhyun contemplated for a while before he finally spoke.

"Do you know that guy? Like, do you know who he was, some time ago?"

He waited patiently, although he knew the book wouldn't answer him in a yes or no form.

He was almost sure that Kyoong was indeed from the past too.

But Kyoong only vibrated lightly on his chest.

* * *

Jongdae finished his discussion with Kris Wu in an hour.

They only discussed which journals should be read first among the bundles of journals for the next reading session.

Baekhyun drove Jongdae to the Main Library too after that, and the ride was still in silence.

Jongdae thanked him in whispers too, and a small smile.

Baekhyun buried himself in work once he entered his laboratory, to remove Jongdae and Kris Wu completely from his thoughts.

When he arrived back home, he instructed his plants not to talk about Jongdae, he told them this morning to refer Chen as Jongdae, and he told his plants to let him have his rest, because seriously, he needed a good rest without the help of sleeping pollens.

But Baekhyun could only plan.

Someone knocked on his door at 9.30 pm.

He was ready to hit the sack early, already donned his favorite blue pajamas and he could only groan loudly, as he stepped out of his bedroom.

"Who is it?" he yelled, ready to give the unwanted visitor some speeches about the important of sleep, but went completely still when he opened up the door.

Jongdae, crossed one of his arm on his torso, and closed his mouth with the other hand, was tapping his foot nervously on the floor, even his eyes were looking at the floor instead of at Baekhyun.

He was wearing a pajama too, his appearance told Baekhyun that he was ready to sleep, except for Kyoong which was flying anxiously above Jongdae.

"Yes?" Baekhyun asked, starting to get nervous when he saw Jongdae looked so pale.

Jongdae quickly looked up at Baekhyun, sweats were clearly forming on his forehead, and Baekhyun could see how Jongdae was swallowing hard before he removed his hand from his mouth and shown his palm on Baekhyun's face.

Baekhyun read the written words on Jongdae's palm.

" _Should I panic_...?" Baekhyun read it out loud, frowned back at Jongdae because he didn't understand. "Panic? Panic at what?"

Jongdae swallowed again, clearly in discomfort, and anxiety formed in such an alarming pace inside Baekhyun's body.

Jongdae held both of Baekhyun's arms tight, he was pleading with Baekhyun using his eyes, Baekhyun had no idea what was Jongdae pleaded for when...

"Baekhyun--"

Purple petals spewed from Jongdae's mouth and Baekhyun immediately cursed.

"Shit! What's happening?!" he immediately held back Jongdae's arms, both of them were in panic and even Hedera came to see what was happening.

"Baekhyun--"

"Shit! Shit!" Baekhyun tried to calm Jongdae who was starting to shake, tried to make sense what was happening, when another dreadful realization came to him.

"Shit! Don't speak! Don't speak! You must have accidentally drank cells from the seed in the blood nectar too!"

Jongdae was probably on the verge of tears, as he closed his eyes so tight and put both of his hands on his mouth. Baekhyun immediately hugged him close, mouthed at Hedera the words mask, car key and wallet.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. I’m sorry that I got panic," he ran his hand on Jongdae's back, heard the Librarian short sniffles, "We'll go to the hospital, okay? I know a very good Botanist Healer, he'll heal you," Hedera immediately came back with all the items, Baekhyun grabbed the mask first. "Here, wear this mask, let's go now, okay?"

He pulled back, noticed the wetness on Jongdae's eyes and cursed himself for causing so much distress to the person that he prayed for happiness the most every day.

Baekhyun wiped the tears away quickly, helped Jongdae put on the mask, winced every time Jongdae was struggling to swallow.

It must be so painful.

They immediately went to the hospital, Jongdae sat at the back and despite the mask, he couldn’t stop coughing petals, some even flown to Baekhyun’s lap when he coughed extra hard.

Baekhyun parked his car in a rush, held Jongdae protectively around his waist, and let Kyoong perched on his shoulder, as he led their way inside the hospital.

When they entered the special surgery department, Baekhyun stopped the nearest nurse that he saw.

“Where’s Dr Kim Minseok?” he asked urgently, the nurse eyed both him and Jongdae with a frown, but the frown quickly turned to worry when she saw Jongdae’s sick face.

“He’s at the office. His office is—”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun replied and hastily walked while holding Jongdae close with him, for he knew where Kim Minseok’s office was.

Dr Kim Minseok was sitting on his chair and yawning when Baekhyun pushed the door to his office.

“Oh wow, Baekhyun. Nice to see you too,” the words were muffled, since Minseok was still yawning. “Why are both of you in pajamas? Who’s this—“

“He’s spewing petals!”

Jongdae chose that time to cough after holding it for too long since they entered the hospital, pulled the mask to his chin, to cough freely the petals away.

“Holy shit, what did you do this time, Baekhyun?” Minseok quickly stood and approached them.

“He accidentally drank a blood nectar! I already gave him my blood—“

“No one accidentally drank a blood nectar!” Minseok yelled, and at the same time Jongdae turned his head to look at Baekhyun. “You gave me your blood?!”

Purple petals were spewing everywhere, Minseok caught one although he was still in shock himself, but he was trained for this kind of situation.

“African violet,” he said, after feeling the petal. “Your blood must have completed the whole germination to the flowering process. Lie him on the bed, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun pushed Jongdae gently to the bed at the corner of the room, ignoring the way Jongdae was starting to fume at him.

“If I turn into some flower coughing vampire, I’ll turn you too,” Jongdae spat those petals literally on Baekhyun, but still lay himself on the bed.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Baekhyun replied, waving the petals away, then stepped away to give room for Minseok to start his examination.

Minseok stood beside the bed, eyes already closed as he put a hand on Jongdae’s chest. “What’s your name, Baekhyun’s friend?” he asked, magic already seeping out from his hand, scanning Jongdae’s body.

 _Certainly not a friend_. “Kim Jongdae.”

“Okay Kim Jongdae-ssi. Relax yourself and close your eyes for a second. Allow my magic to enter your body,” Minseok instructed, and Jongdae followed immediately.

Minseok’s magic coated Jongdae’s whole being in form of a white light, Baekhyun and Kyoong watched with awe as the white light continued to surround the whole room.

Bright, but soothingly calm.

They waited for minutes, when finally the light slowly dimmed, and Minseok pulled away his hand, eyes already opened.

“Thankfully but also unfortunately, the source, I mean, the root of the flower, is somewhere near your throat,” Minseok spoke, Jongdae gaped immediately. “It’s not life threatening since it doesn’t grow near your heart, but I still need to do an operation to remove them. Which means, you can’t talk for a few days after the operation.” Jongdae loudly groaned, petals shouting upwards, but Minseok just stayed calm. “I can do the operation now if you want to. And I promise you, no ugly scar.”

Jongdae turned to look at Baekhyun, eyes filled with anger, and Baekhyun almost winced with fear because Jongdae looked like he wanted to murder him right there. Jongdae thought for a while, touched his throat for a moment before he spoke again.

“Do it now,” Jongdae said, spat a few petals more out of frustration.

Minseok nodded. “Okay then. Baekhyun, be a good boy and call a nurse for me. Ask them to bring the consent form too.”

Baekhyun quickly left the room, Kyoong floated itself near Jongdae’s legs. Minseok eyed the flying book, but made no comment on it and lean himself on the adjacent wall.

“You’re not Baekhyun’s friend.”

Jongdae only shook his head. _Yes? No?_

“Your familiar?” Minseok asked again, eyes on the floating book.

Jongdae nodded, coughed a few petals out of his mouth before Minseok held out his hand towards Jongdae.

“Breathe normally, I’m going to ease the itchiness for the time being.”

Baekhyun re-entered the office with a nurse, extreme worry filled him when he saw Minseok surrounded Jongdae with his magic. “What happened to him, hyung?

“He doesn’t stop coughing, his coughs sound coarser each time,” Minseok replied, retracted his hand and looked at the nurse. “Get ready an operation room, this patient has been seeded from a blood nectar. Hand him the consent form, we’ll start in an hour.”

The nurse nodded, handed Jongdae the consent form together with a pen and left the room immediately.

Jongdae sat up and Kyoong landed himself on his lap to give Jongdae a hard surface to write comfortably. His throat felt a little bit better, he could breathe fine with his nose now and the petals that he kept on swallowing back didn’t feel like they would choke him anymore.

Minseok and Baekhyun were discussing about the surgery, about African violet, when Jongdae was stuck at one section. He glanced at Baekhyun for a while, sighed heavily, before he tapped the pen on Kyoong’s surface.

“Hit that jerk.”

Kyoong immediately flown towards Baekhyun, almost eager to do the said order, and hit itself at the back of Baekhyun’s head.

Hard.

“The hell…” Baekhyun turned around to look at the book angrily, but stopped himself from doing anything to the book when he saw Jongdae was gesturing the consent paper at him.

“Companion.”

It was a soft whisper, and Jongdae was certainly uncomfortable when he said those words, but the other two men caught the word anyway.

“Oh,” Baekhyun walked sheepishly towards the bed, face became a little redder, as he took the consent paper from Jongdae. “Your family—“

“You think I have the time to call them?”

Baekhyun didn’t reply, bit his lower lip, took the pen from Jongdae and started to fill in the consent form, specifically at the companion section.

He would never ever predict that he was going to be Chen’s— Jongdae’s companion in this kind of scene.

He signed his name, overwhelmed, knowing that Jongdae was under his care here.

The nurse came back to inform Minseok that the room was ready, and Jongdae’s face immediately turned pale.

“I’ve never been operated before,” he said, didn’t even care now about the petals spewing from his mouth, “Wait, is it painful?” He turned to look at Minseok, nervousness slowly crept in him but Minseok gave him an assuring smile.

“No, it’ll end before you know it.”

The nurse ordered Jongdae to follow her, Kyoong was flapping nervously now and Jongdae hesitated in his every movement.

He was moving slowly when he took out his phone and wallet from his pajamas’ pockets, unconsciously handed them to Baekhyun who just took them without any questions. He was also moving slowly when he moved from the bed and stood himself steadily. He completely stopped and sighed heavily, took the flying Kyoong and handed it to Baekhyun too.

Kyoong didn’t even fight when Baekhyun hugged it close to his chest, too worried for its owner.

“Stay, and keep Kyoong safe.”

* * *

Baekhyun indeed stayed.

He waited patiently outside of the operation room, a small area on his arm was covered with a band aid after the nurse took his blood, since it was needed as an antigen. Kyoong never left his chest, vibrating constantly with magic, and Baekhyun hugged it lightly, felt the safe assurance from the magical book.

The surgery of such kind wasn’t rare, people did drink blood nectar and things went wrong like spewing petals did happen every year. And Baekhyun had the utmost trust in Minseok, the Botanist Healer was an expert in his own field.

It was just because it was Jongdae.

It wasn’t even a month yet since they met but Baekhyun had successfully caused Jongdae to faint and now had to undergo a surgery.

He sighed heavily.

An hour had already passed when Minseok finally came out from the operation room.

Baekhyun immediately stood, and Kyoong quickly flown towards Minseok.

“Whoa, relax both of you,” Minseok spoke, his tone was light. “He’s fine, I’ve already removed the root from his throat.” Baekhyun sighed loudly in relief, and Minseok smiled at him. “The leftover petals in his body have been destroyed too, but there’ll be some pollens left in his respiratory system. He’s exhaling purple air now, he can be discharged once his breathing back to normal. Look over him carefully for the changes.”

Baekhyun nodded, took Minseok’s hand and grabbed it tightly. “Thank you so much, hyung.”

Minseok patted Baekhyun’s shoulder with definite assurance. “No problem. I want to talk more with you but I’m needed somewhere else now. I’ll drop by your friend’s room when I have the time.” He turned to look at Kyoong, smiled at the magical book who floated directly in front of him, bowing itself towards Minseok, and Minseok touched the book with his finger. “You’re welcome.”

After the nurse told Baekhyun to wait at the room where they would place Jongdae afterwards, Baekhyun thanked her and took Kyoong with him.

When the nurse entered the room and pushed the hospital bed inside, Jongdae was wide awake. A white light was surrounding his throat, clearly a healing protection, and he looked fine.

Kyoong immediately flown to his side, but Baekhyun stayed standing still, too nervous to even move.

“He can’t talk yet, so try to communicate through other mediums,” the nurse said, while double checking Jongdae’s condition. “He’ll breathe the pollens out for a while, so when the air he breathes out is no longer purple, you can tell any of the nurses. Feed him liquid and porridges, and he’ll be healing fine.”

After she was satisfied with everything, she left the room, finally leaving Baekhyun with Jongdae and his familiar.

Kyoong fell on Jongdae’s chest, making Jongdae smiled at the gesture. He closed his eyes for a while, obviously exhausted.

Silence filled the room for a while, Baekhyun continued to stand, didn’t really know what to do.

Jongdae opened up his eyes after a few minutes, mouthed the word hand phone at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun didn’t fail to notice the condensed purple air coming out from Jongdae’s mouth. He quickly walked towards him, fished out Jongdae’s phone from his jeans’ pocket and handed it to him.

Jongdae checked his phone quickly, typed for a few seconds before handed it back to Baekhyun.

_Type in your phone number_

Baekhyun was confused, but he typed them in anyway before he handed it back to Jongdae.

He could feel the vibration from his jeans’ pocket, knew that it was Jongdae even before Jongdae shown him another typed text from his phone.

_That’s my number_

Baekhyun nodded, the relief in Jongdae’s face was short lived before he frowned and started to type extremely fast on his phone.

_You’re going back?_

Baekhyun read the words, disliked the anxiety on Jongdae’s face so he shook his head immediately.

“No, I’m here for you.”

* * *

Jongdae slept sometime after that, and Baekhyun watched over him in silence.

He sat on the chair beside the bed, texted his colleagues to tell them that he wasn’t going to enter his laboratory tomorrow.

Mages who worked for the Guild didn’t have a leave system like the others, but it was still a basic courtesy not to let your colleagues wonder whether you would come to work or not. Baekhyun himself was pretty sure that Jongdae already texted his friends, seeing how the Librarian’s phone was brightened with notifications at some random time, even after Jongdae already went to sleep.

Kyoong already fell asleep before Jongdae, peacefully lay on Jongdae’s chest, and Baekhyun knew he should go to sleep too.

He crossed his legs, tried to find a comfortable position to sleep, but could only closed his eyes for a few seconds before he opened up his eyes again.

Jongdae and Kyoong was safe, asleep.

There was a strong part in him that wanted to protect Jongdae, wanted to protect Jongdae’s familiar too, and he hated feeling so threatened for reasons that he didn’t even know.

Baekhyun stood silently.

He went to check outside of the room, the silent corridor and some machinery beeping greeted him. He even went to check outside of the window, the barrier magic surrounding the hospital was strong and sturdy. There shouldn’t be any possible threats around them.

He looked back to the hospital bed, and he finally felt satisfied.

Jongdae, even though was puffing purple air, was sleeping peacefully, hugging Kyoong lightly in his embrace.

* * *

Baekhyun stirred awake when his ears picked up the soft noise.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?”

A tall man closed the door as silent as he could, his head bowed guiltily at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun shook his head, blinked the sleep away and finally took a good look on the visitor.

He wasn’t acquaintance with this person, but he knew this person’s name.

Park Chanyeol from the Magic Ministry was here, looking worriedly at Jongdae, who was still sleeping. He was all suited up in black, typical of the mages from the Ministry, looking all clean and handsome, and ready to work.

“Is he okay?” Chanyeol asked, as he approached the hospital bed. “Oh my, he looks so funny, let me take a picture first.”

Baekhyun wasn’t fully awake yet, but Chanyeol didn’t give even an ounce of bad aura, so he just let Chanyeol took pictures of Jongdae sleeping with his phone, Baekhyun himself checked the time to get his bearing right.

It was 6.30 am now, and he didn’t even know for how many hours of sleep he managed to get.

“You’re Byun Baekhyun, right? I’m Park Chanyeol,” Chanyeol introduced himself and Baekhyun nodded, combed his hair with his fingers to at least make himself less messy, before he replied.

“I’m Byun Baekhyun.”

Damn, his voice was so coarse, even Chanyeol flinched a little bit.

“I’m Jongdae’s friend!” Chanyeol continued, from his tone alone Baekhyun knew this tall man was chatty. “He texted me saying he can’t go to work today because he’s in the hospital but I already fell asleep when he texted so I’m dropping by here. You must be the one who took care of him, right? Thank you so much for all your help!”

Now, Baekhyun wasn’t a jealous person per se. Damn, the only jealousy that he knew was jealousy of seeing other people with their own significant others lived happily together when he was sure he would end up alone, pining over a lover from the past.

But to become the person who received Jongdae’s text in some weird hours after midnight? Baekhyun suddenly felt the ugly jealousy, for the first time ever in his life.

Chanyeol was looking at him expectantly, and Baekhyun realized that he hadn’t reply the tall guy.

“It’s actually my fault that he’s here, so, really. No need to thank me.”

There was surprise on Chanyeol’s face for a quick second, before he turned it into a frown. “I guess it’s your blood nectar that he drank then?”

Baekhyun could only nod again.

“He told me that the whole thing was an accident so I guess we just need to move on since he’s okay now,” Chanyeol paused. “Wait, he’s okay, right? But why is he breathing out something purple?”

Baekhyun sighed, "He can't talk for a few days, and he can only be discharged after he is no longer breathing out those pollens...those purple pollens. The doctor predicted that he can be discharged tomorrow."

"Ah, good...But that can't talk part is going to be a problem...He's supposed to have a reading session with Kris Wu on the day after tomorrow," Chanyeol pulled the empty chair beside Baekhyun and sat on it.

The topic of Kris Wu would always interested Baekhyun, so he probed further. "But, it's only a reading session, right? He doesn't have to say anything."

"Yeah, reading and writing, but it'll take a whole day and someone needs to accompany him there. What a bad luck that I'm so freaking busy this week," Chanyeol frowned, his eyes were looking worriedly at Jongdae and Baekhyun couldn't help but feeling the ugly jealousy crept in again.

"I...I can accompany him again. I mean, I accompanied him yesterday."

Chanyeol turned to look at Baekhyun in surprise. "It's not going to be an hour agenda like yesterday, it's going to take a whole day," Baekhyun didn't miss the fact that Chanyeol actually knew Jongdae went to the Ministry with him yesterday. "And you'll literally just looking at them working from afar, because what they're reading is a top secret."

"Least I can do after the blood nectar mishap, right?" Baekhyun insisted. "I don't have any urgent researches too for the time being."

A complete lie, because Baekhyun was working on a few plants potions right now that needed constant observation, but Chanyeol didn't have to know about it. Baekhyun's main priority now was Jongdae, always Jongdae.

Chanyeol seemed to think about it while observing Baekhyun, Baekhyun only maintained a straight face, while his brain tried to think that one simple question.

What was Chanyeol's magic power?

"I was thinking of asking help from Sehun or Jongin to accompany him, but since you volunteered..." Chanyeol took out his phone which kept on vibrating and checked it for a second. "Those two are quite busy enough handling the sudden increase of requests from those ghosts. You should tell Jongdae once he wake up later. The accompany job is boring but I don't think Jongdae will mind to bring you with him," he stood and walked closer towards the hospital bed, poked once at Kyoong's hardcover, but the book didn't even flinch from its sleep. "I've to go to work now. You'll take good care of them, can you, Baekhyun-ssi?"

There was something in Chanyeol's tone that Baekhyun didn't miss, something akin to pleading, a genuine worries over Jongdae and Kyoong. Baekhyun didn't know much about Chanyeol, he didn't even know Chanyeol's magic, but there was something about Chanyeol that made him wanted to stay on Chanyeol's good side.

"I will."

* * *

Jongdae stopped breathing out purple pollens sometime in the evening.

Baekhyun called out for Minseok instead of the nurse, knew that Minseok would always come for Baekhyun, and he wasn't mistaken at all when Minseok appeared at the door 5 minutes after Baekhyun's text.

"You've stopped breathing out those pollens?" Minseok asked, as he approached Jongdae with a smile.

Jongdae nodded at the doctor and replied with a smile.

Jongdae looked so much better, still had his rough coughs once in a while, but he was no longer coughing petals.

Baekhyun stayed patiently with him, only went out to buy extra porridge and a bubble tea requested by Jongdae himself, who somehow had a good appetite despite just having a throat surgery. They were watching the TV provided in the room in silence, Jongdae refused to read anything for the time being since he needed rest to get ready for the upcoming reading session.

To Baekhyun's relief, Jongdae agreed to bring Baekhyun together with him for the reading session when he brought up the issue after Jongdae had his breakfast.

"Stay still for a while, I'm going to let my magic enter you."

Jongdae closed his eyes, and Baekhyun watched the way Minseok's healing magic seeped through Jongdae's body, the white magic was soothing enough that even Baekhyun himself felt calm.

"Your body is free from plants' cells now, and your voice will come back slowly," Minseok said, his face was satisfied. "You didn't feel any pain when you eat?"

Jongdae typed the reply on his phone.

_No pain while eating, but when I tried to speak, my throat felt like its burning._

Minseok nodded knowingly, "Take it easy then. My magic that's surrounding your throat will clear up tomorrow morning, so you can discharge after that. I don't have any medicine for you, but you can always ask Baekhyun to make you a reliever. Just continue to rest for the whole night." Jongdae mouthed thank you, and Minseok smiled at him. "Be careful around Baekhyun, and don't drink a blood nectar again."

"Hey," Baekhyun was offended, but Minseok just chuckled lightly.

* * *

Nothing eventful happened after that, and Baekhyun was thoroughly grateful for it.

Jongin and Sehun did visit Jongdae that night, and Baekhyun took the chance to take a walk around the hospital, letting the friends talked among themselves, while he listened to the plants in the hospital talking and singing.

Baekhyun did ask Jongdae if he told his family about his surgery, but Jongdae just simply shook his head.

He wouldn't press any further, knew that despite the cold ice between them somehow melted overnight, he was still a stranger in Jongdae's life.

Baekhyun himself was confused about his stance with Jongdae. His mind told him to stay away, but his heart always convinced him to stay.

Baekhyun was only a man, a lover who missed his beloved, always.

He paid for the whole hospital fee, stopped by the restaurant and bought take away for them after Jongdae was officially discharged from the hospital. Their ride back to their apartment complex was silent, but then Jongdae still couldn't voice out a single word.

"You can't postpone your reading session with Kris Wu?"

Jongdae shook his head.

Jongdae, Baekhyun found out in just a few days, had no difference with Chen at all.

Both were friendly with other people, both chose not to hold grudges for too long, both were extremely dedicated with their work, both were extremely considerate with their surroundings.

Both smiled like a sun.

Baekhyun hadn't receive any yet, but he was satisfied to see the bright smile from afar, even though in silence, he was jealous of Minseok and the nurses, jealous of Jongin and Sehun, and jealous with all the people who managed to receive the beautiful smile effortlessly.

He decided not to be greedy, for he received the best gift ever given by the fate, the opportunity to stay beside Jongdae, to accompany Jongdae while he was working.

The reading session wasn't a small matter, and Baekhyun was totally unprepared.

There were bodyguards everywhere, and instead of a Teleporter, Jongdae and Baekhyun was led by an employee properly from the building's entrance to the door of the library.

Kyoong was under Baekhyun's care from the beginning, because Jongdae had to hold another blank book for him to write his words, for he still couldn't utter a single word.

They were led to a big room at the back of the library, Baekhyun knew from the magic surrounding them that the room was temporarily made only for that day, and the room was only equipped with a large table and a few chairs.

Kris Wu already waited at the table, didn't look impressed at all to see Baekhyun, but he made no harsh comments on it. There were a magic chest in front of Kris Wu, a heap of papers and a line of pen on the table, which judging by the amount of them, Baekhyun could predict that the session would only end at night.

"I heard that you lost your voice for a few days? What happened?" Kris asked, but Jongdae already had the words written in his book, already shown it a few times today since they arrived at the Ministry's building.

_Magic happened._

Kris Wu only sighed, waited until Jongdae seated himself properly in front of him, waited until Baekhyun settled on a chair provided for him at the corner of the room, with Kyoong lay on his lap, two bodyguards standing on Baekhyun's left and right.

"Do I need to brief him that his job is to simply sit there for hours while you read the journals and write it back to me the important contents?" Kris gestured his head at Baekhyun while looking at Jongdae, but Jongdae just shook his head and wrote something short.

_He knows._

Now, Baekhyun knew about that but he didn't know the security would be this tight and this strict, that he had to stamp so many confidential forms with his arcane mark before they could be led into the library, and suddenly felt incredibly uneasy by the seriousness of the room, by the lack of plants which at least could talk with Baekhyun in the silence--

"I know that we already discussed which journal to read today, but the Archaeologists found something magnificent a few weeks ago," Kris' eyes lightened up immediately, as he held the magic crest in front of him with such care, almost like a maniac. "They found journals and scrolls at the bottom of the sea, and guess what? They were protected by ancient magic, only to be broken yesterday."

Jongdae tilted his head, a sign for Kris Wu to continue and explain to him about the new found historical items.

Kris Wu placed both of his hands on the magic crest, unsealed the spell casted to lock the crest, and slowly, _so slowly,_ he opened up the crest....

And the room immediately blackened, and blackened out.

There were shouts everywhere, Kris Wu's voice was the loudest, and the room immediately turned to chaos.

"Jongdae-ssi! Kim Jongdae! Jongdae-ya! Shit!"

Baekhyun cursed himself, Jongdae couldn't say a word now because of him, and he couldn't locate Jongdae now because of him.

It was too dark, and Baekhyun started to panic.

The bodyguards were shouting among themselves, on how they tried to cast some light magic to the room but nothing happened, Kris Wu's nonstop loud curses on what was wrong and why someone couldn’t did something in this situation.

But Baekhyun's only focus was to find Jongdae, as he held the trembling Kyoong in his arm, for he knew Jongdae could connect his magic with Kyoong. He marched forward inside the darkness, pushed away any of the bodyguards that he bumped into because Baekhyun knew how Jongdae felt like even with just a mere touch, for he already mapped Jongdae's every inch religiously some ancient times ago to the point that he could still remember them well now.

Another person bumped into him, and this time Baekhyun didn't push them away, this time he held the person tight in his arm, Kyoong vibrated nonstop between him and the other person.

"...kyoong."

Goosebumps appeared on Baekhyun's skin, because the weak whimper felt like it was directed to him, extremely sure that it was directed to him.

"...Baekhyun."

Baekhyun went rigid, understood that Jongdae called him Kyoong because he still couldn't speak properly yet, understood that he shouldn't let such a small thing get to him.

But he was too worried, too restless, too tired, too overwhelmed with longing, too overpowered with love, _too much, too much, too much_ , everything was too much.

"Chen."

He hugged Jongdae so tight, and never letting go.

* * *

"Shit!"

Kris Wu was still cursing nonstop, hitting and kicking anything that he could see in his vision.

The whole building of the Magic Ministry was blackened by a strong magic, every departments were in total chaos, and everyone were affected by the sudden unknown attack.

The offensive magic only faded away ten minutes after the black out, but the electricity never came back. Thankfully the mages could cast Light again, which provided the building with temporary light.

Everyone were instructed to evacuate the building towards the evacuation spot and the parking lot, and to stay in group according to their initial place before the incident happened. Everyone were casted with Mute to disable their magic, and everyone were just so freaking restless.

The higher-ups were currently checking the whole building, the whole area was casted with Barrier, and no one could leave the area. Some media already arrived outside of the area, but they couldn't enter, not with the Barrier stopping them so they just crowded outside of the Barrier magic.

Baekhyun and Jongdae stayed close together, shoulder to shoulder, as they sat on the curb, feeling totally out of place because they were the only two persons from the Guild that happened to be at the Magic Ministry right now.

Kyoong couldn't fly, not after they casted Mute and affected it so bad, that it could only slumped weakly in Jongdae's arm.

For the first time ever, Baekhyun couldn't hear soft voices, couldn't smell the Earth and the green air. He kept glancing around because he never had his magic taken away from him, not even for a second, and he only stopped looking left and right when Jongdae put a comforting hand on his knee, before he turned his palm upward, two simple words were written there.

_Don't panic_

There were a lot of meaning to that simple words.

_Don't panic, or they'll suspect us._

_Don't panic, everything'll be alright._

_Don't panic, I'm here with you._

Baekhyun recomposed himself, took a few deep breaths and nodded, mostly to himself.

The warmth radiated from Jongdae’s presence was comforting, and he focused on the warmth.

* * *

Nothing was missing from the building, the higher ups said, but they asked everyone to check if anything was missing from their department.

Nothing was missing.

Or so they thought, until Kris Wu went back to the room where they were supposed to do their reading session.

He didn’t say anything, but the sudden changes in the weather was enough to tell everyone not to mess with Kris Wu right now.

The heavy rain and the strong wind was immediate, Jongdae was standing so close beside Baekhyun, for the atmosphere changed heavily in just a second, Kyoong was still weak in his arm despite the disappearance of the Mute spell. Even the higher ups teleported to the room immediately, to know what happened that made Kris Wu so freaking mad.

“The journals and scrolls in this magic chest are missing.”

The skies darkened in just a few seconds, lightning flashed everywhere and the thunder boomed so loud.

Kris Wu, who controlled the weather, was beyond mad.

Some of the higher ups talked with themselves, while some looked around the room, tried to find some way to know where the ancient items were right now.

Baekhyun couldn’t dismiss the ugly feeling of being watched by the higher ups, but knew better than to say anything, to avoid being accused unnecessarily by the Ministry, when it was Kris Wu himself who told them about the ancient items.

Jongdae only stayed close with him.

One of the bodyguards then knocked on the door softly. “The Head of the Guild is here.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae immediately looked at the bodyguard, knew that he was actually talking to them.

“I know this is a private issue between you guys in the Ministry, so can we take our leave now?” Baekhyun asked to Kris Wu, who was still looking like a mad person, staring at the empty magic chest, eyes didn’t blink at all.

“Go.”

Both Baekhyun and Jongdae excused themselves, walked towards the bodyguard who then led them to the entrance, the Head of the Guild stood silently in one corner, looking intently at them.

“You guys are neighbors, right?” The Guild’s Head whispered to them both carefully. “Return to your apartments immediately.”

Jongdae frowned, and Baekhyun immediately asked for both of them. “But why?”

“They’ll find some way to put the blame on you guys. It’s unfortunate enough that you two are here when this thing happened,” Baekhyun wanted to counter that it wasn’t even their fault, that they didn’t even know what _actually_ happened, but the Guild’s Head continued talking, his voice was stern as he looked at Baekhyun. “Stay in your house for a while. Look over Jongdae too. If it’s true that only the journals and scrolls are missing, then he isn’t in a good situation.”

“They can suspect other Librarians—“

“Go now. I’ll deal this myself.”

Baekhyun sighed heavily, and Jongdae looked like he wanted to say something, but the Guild’s Head just shook his head and mouthed _no, don’t talk_ and immediately went to one of the mages who already waited for him all this time near the teleporter.

They teleported to somewhere else, leaving Baekhyun and Jongdae more restless than ever.

* * *

They returned to their apartment complex without any delay, despite feeling conflicted about the order themselves.

Kyoong already regained its energy during the ride back home, only to fly restlessly near Jongdae after they entered the elevator.

Jongdae was deep in his thoughts about the incident just now when Baekhyun, who was leaning on the elevator’s wall, suddenly cursed.

“Shit, something happened to your apartment.”

Jongdae immediately turned to look at Baekhyun, eyes wide, demanding an explanation.

“I don’t know, the plants just told me to hurry.”

In just a few seconds, they arrived at their floor and Jongdae quickly rushed to his apartment, only to stop himself in front of the door.

He felt the chaotic magic energy coming from his apartment, and his first instinct was to turn towards Baekhyun.

“I’ll follow you inside,” Baekhyun spoke, understood the danger that might be lurking inside Jongdae’s apartment now.

Jongdae turned back towards his apartment, eyes on the door, while Baekhyun stood behind him, already ready to fight anything that could endanger them. Kyoong was so afraid, that he chose to hide behind Jongdae, with Baekhyun guarding its back.

Jongdae put a hand on the door, and it clicked, pulled itself open.

The sound of flapping pages were unmistakably loud, as they slowly and carefully entered the apartment.

Jongdae whined soundlessly when he looked at the flying papers and books, all over his apartment.

When he wanted to rush towards his library, Baekhyun immediately held his arm to stop him.

“Don’t be reckless. Something must be triggering these books,” Baekhyun said, pulled Jongdae close to him. “Let’s check together.”

What Baekhyun said was true, so Jongdae nodded and led them inside of his apartment, Kyoong was now hiding inside Baekhyun’s suit jacket.

Those were Jongdae’s books and journals that were flying around, as he looked at the flying materials who kept hitting them in their every steps.

His books and journals that were supposed to be locked in his library.

He couldn’t explain that to Baekhyun without his voice, so he just led them to his library, didn’t even flinch by the swarm of books. He could tame them after this, his only concern right now was to know why the books and the journals had escaped from the magic that he casted on his library.

The door to his library was opened, so he stepped inside, Baekhyun never let his arm go and stayed close behind him.

His shelves were all empty, all the books and journals had escaped the room.

Except for a floating thick bundle of papers tied with a white rope and not less than 30 scrolls vertically floating all around the thick bundle, as if they were guarding it.

“Not mine...” Jongdae’s voice was coarse and rough when he spoke, but he had to speak those words out, no matter how painful his throat felt right now.

Baekhyun felt the dread filling up his whole body, for the bundle and the scrolls all gave out the same magic energy. It was extremely similar with the magic energy that was currently peeking itself from his suit’s jacket, it was sickeningly similar with the magic that he knew from some time ago...

He was now facing the ancient magic from his past life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stream Hello by Chen!


	5. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when in sadness, just write.

Jongdae never felt so conflicted in his life.

“Kris Wu’s...” he spoke out despite the pain it caused to his throat, had to speak those words out as he turned to look at Baekhyun, wanted Baekhyun to know what was he thinking.

Those floating papers were the one that escaped from Kris Wu’s magic crest, right?

Baekhyun heard him, his face already looked heavy with dread. “If these are really the missing papers, then we’re in a very bad situation.”

The magic surrounding the papers were extremely strong. Jongdae took the courage and stepped forward, tried to reach out for one of the scroll...

Only for a strong barrier magic pushed his hand immediately, the impact was so strong that both him and Baekhyun flown backward because of the impact. Baekhyun immediately hugged Jongdae from behind with one arm to cushion Jongdae’s body from hitting the floor, another hand on his front to protect Kyoong, and he took the pain of hitting the floor on his own.

“Damn...” Baekhyun hissed, and Jongdae quickly turned around to look at him, but Baekhyun looked more worried than Jongdae himself. “Did you get hurt?”

Jongdae clenched his hand, it was painful but endurable. He shook his head, looked back at the army of papers who just invaded his library.

He slowly stood, careful now in case he would offend the papers again, and offered a hand at Baekhyun.

“I don’t think they wanted to be touched,” Baekhyun said, took Jongdae’s hand, and pulled himself from the ground.

Jongdae looked at Baekhyun’s back, mouthed _are you okay?_ in which Baekhyun nodded slowly, released Jongdae’s hand to pat at his own back and blew the dust away from his suit jacket while Kyoong never left his front, tried its best to hide itself inside.

“I’ll be fine. But, what should we do now?”

Jongdae had no idea what should they do now. The papers’ appearances clearly meant something, but he didn’t know anything about the papers. Kris Wu didn’t even have the chance to elaborate more about the papers.

“They escaped the Ministry and went to your library, Jongdae-ssi. I don’t know much about papers’ magic, but these,” he pointed at the floating papers. “I know the papers want to say something.”

_I know..._ Jongdae mouthed, stared at the papers for a few seconds more, before he decided that he really didn’t know what to do, didn’t even know what he should do next.

He hesitantly left the room, his brain considering all the possible options.

He couldn’t tell this to other mages, right? He would just impose unnecessary danger to the others by involving with the Ministry, and he already accidentally involved Baekhyun in this problem.

A book came on his way and Jongdae immediately caught it, totally not in the mood and tamed the book right away, dropping it to the floor....

Only for the book to fly upward again, when it nearly touched the ground.

Jongdae was stunned.

“You...can’t tame the book?” He heard Baekhyun, who was still standing behind him asked, and even Baekhyun’s voice itself was in disbelief.

Jongdae didn’t answer him, took another flying book to tame, and when he released the book, the same thing happened.

The book didn’t get tame. The magic that was influencing the book was still keeping it alive, flying freely in the air.

Jongdae was totally in panic now. He grabbed any books that flown near him and tamed them all, but none of them calmed down, all of them were still flying around.

He could feel the tears started to form, how his body didn’t stop moving, his arms didn’t stop grabbing, and only when he felt strong arms around his body from behind, strong arms held him in one place firmly in place.

“Hey, Kim Jongdae-ssi, don’t panic. Please, don’t panic.”

Jongdae took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down although his arms still weakly held out for some flying books but Baekhyun stopped him in his every attempt. His heart was beating erratically for so many reasons, and when he opened his mouth wide only a pitiful squeak came out. “Why…books…”

He could feel the way Baekhyun breathed behind him before he answered the question, for Baekhyun was hugging him so tight.

“I think the ancient things in your library are controlling all of your books and papers.”

Jongdae stopped struggling in Baekhyun’s arms, and started to think things thoroughly.

Among the flying books and the overwhelming ancient magic, Baekhyun kept hugging him close, became his anchor to the ground and to the reality.

Jongdae turned around, Baekhyun kept on holding his arms when Jongdae faced him.

“They…overpower my magic?”

In his determination to get back all of his voice, Jongdae was relieved that he could whisper those word completely, despite them sounded so throaty and rough. Baekhyun was standing close with him too, there was no way Baekhyun couldn’t hear what he just said.

“I think so…” Baekhyun replied, also in whispers. “Ancient magic…is this strong.”

Jongdae sighed. He knew the ancient magic was strong, he read them in books of how people encountered ancient magic head on and never win without some bad subsequences happening to them.

He never battled ancient magic himself, and if the ancient papers were really testing him now, then Jongdae didn’t know what to do.

“Do you..” Baekhyun paused, just to get Jongdae’s attention again, who immediately looked at him. “Do you want to stay at my place for a while? I don’t think your place is…inhabitable right now.”

That made Jongdae really stopped panicking and glanced around his apartment.

The books were literally everywhere; the living room, the kitchen, every doors were opened wide, every space were filled with flying books.

He couldn’t stand peacefully at one place for more than 10 seconds without being hit by a book, how could he take a rest in his chaotic apartment now?

“Or you can stay at your friend’s place, of course. I’m just offering.”

Did Baekhyun blush?

Jongdae stared at Baekhyun, was surprised for a second, when he finally registered everything around him, ancient magic’s threat be damn.

Baekhyun’s hold on him was sturdy but calm. He was literally in Baekhyun’s embrace, felt the warmth from Baekhyun, a human barrier that was keeping him safe from the books’ attacks. Kyoong peeking out once in a while from Baekhyun’s chest to look at Jongdae himself, and Jongdae now was sure that he was blushing too when he realized that their faces were close with each other.

“I…” Jongdae whispered, pulled back slowly from Baekhyun’s safe embrace, eyes on the ground, suddenly felt so embarrassed. “Okay…yours.” He pointed at the direction of the adjoined wall of 2103 and 2104, hoping that Baekhyun would understand his lack of vocabulary that came from his lack of clear voice.

“Sure?”

Jongdae could only nod.

* * *

He took a few things from his apartment before they headed out to 2104.

Jongdae could feel 2103’s guilt, how the apartment silently apologized to Jongdae when he touched his apartment’s wall.

_It’s okay. It’s not your fault._ Jongdae spread the words with his magic to 2103’s wall, felt badly to the apartment because he wasn’t strong enough to avoid the magic trespassing from the ancient papers.

That was the main problem now, the ancient magic.

“You can take a rest at the guest room,” Baekhyun pointed at the room beside the kitchen. “There’re no plants in the room, if you’re worried about privacy. The plants aren’t going to peep on you.”

Jongdae walked towards the room, Kyoong hovered closely on his head, as he gently turned the door knob.

The room was cozy, the shades of grey in the room was a huge contrast to the heavy greenies in the living room. The room had everything that was needed to give comfort to a guest; its own bathroom, a queen sized bed, mirrored wardrobe, a desk and a chair.

Jongdae put down his backpack on the bed, Kyoong was flying around the room happily, and Jongdae thought it would be a nice place to stay for a while.

Until he sorted out the issue with the ancient papers, at least.

He typed something on his phone and walked back towards the living room, Baekhyun already sat on the coach, frowning while looking at his own phone.

The plants were swaying nervously, Jongdae smiled at them all, before he coughed to get Baekhyun’s attention and shown the message that he already typed beforehand.

Baekhyun looked up from his phone to read Jongdae’s.

_Can you give me some time to think alone? And can you keep this as a secret first until I sort things out?_

Baekhyun immediately nodded “Take your time.”

Jongdae mouthed _thank you_ before he headed back towards the guest room and closed the door shut.

They didn’t talk after that, not until night.

Baekhyun cooked something for lunch, Jongdae was lying on the bed with an extremely heavy heart and terrible headache, but he still could listen to the sizzles of something being cooked and could smell the wonderful aroma of rice. Baekhyun even texted Jongdae that he already cooked something, that Jongdae could eat them whenever he wanted to.

_Thanks, I’m not hungry yet,_ Jongdae texted back.

He didn’t have the appetite to eat anything, not when extremely important journals were floating in his house, guarding themselves there steadily. He did leave the room to make some coffee sometime during 4pm, and moved as silent as he could around the kitchen when he saw Baekhyun was sleeping soundly on the coach at the living room.

Baekhyun also had a rough day since early morning, thanks to Jongdae.

He felt guilty for involving Baekhyun together with him, but he also felt thankful that Baekhyun stayed on his side and gave him some help.

Jongdae didn’t want to involve Chanyeol in this, not when Chanyeol was one of the Ministry’s people itself. He knew Chanyeol would betray the Ministry in a heartbeat for him, and he didn’t want Chanyeol to do that for him. He didn’t want to tell Jongin, for telling Jongin meant that he was also telling Sehun, and Jongdae didn’t want to cause troubles to so many people.

He thought about telling Kris Wu, but then, he was a Librarian first and foremost. A Librarian should understand books and papers the most, not only what were written within them, but also the whole existence and behavior of the papers itself.

Those papers in his library was telling him something, and as a Librarian, he shouldn’t ignore the signs.

There must be a reason for the papers to escape the Ministry, to escape Kris Wu, and went to Jongdae instead.

Around 8 pm, he could hear Baekhyun’s panic voices from the living room, shouting names of his plants.

Jongdae immediately felt with dread and nervousness. What if the Ministry was here to catch him since he was hiding the ancient papers in his house? What if Kris Wu himself came to catch Jongdae? What if Baekhyun was guarding him from those people?

He pushed all the bad thoughts from his head, overwhelmed by the guilt that he had for Baekhyun and immediately grabbed Kyoong and put it inside of his sweater and left the guest room to help whatever Baekhyun was currently facing now.

He saw Baekhyun standing rigid in front of the apartment’s door, eyes wide to whoever guest that was currently standing outside now. His vines were trailing all over Baekhyun, as if they were ready to protect their owner from whatever threat they had at the door now.

Goosebumps formed all over his skin, as he walked closer towards Baekhyun, swallowed all of his nervousness and tried his best to call out with his throaty voice.

“Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun probably heard him, as he turned his head towards Jongdae. The first thing that Jongdae noticed was that Baekhyun looked so pale, as if all blood already drained from his body.

“What?” Jongdae whispered, brave himself to step closer, because whoever was standing outside of the apartment was clearly more threatening than Kris Wu, more threatening than the whole Ministry itself, because Baekhyun was _literally shaking_.

Baekhyun didn’t answer him, only turned back his head towards the visitor.

When Jongdae could finally see who was waiting at the door, he had to hold Baekhyun’s arm for support, or else, he would fall on his knee.

Because an ancient scroll was floating steadily right in front of 2104’s door.

* * *

Those papers were clearly following Jongdae, just like how Kyoong followed him, he was confident of that now.

Baekhyun closed the door immediately, and they both stood in silence in front of the door for a minute, only to hear 3 knocks on the door.

Jongdae whined desperately, for he really had no idea what should he do now, that he nearly texted Kris Wu immediately to come and take those papers away.

But Kyoong chose to fly out from the comfort and safety within Jongdae’s sweater and warm skin, and flown closer towards the door, knocked back 3 times on the door.

Jongdae didn’t understand it at first.

Another 3 knocks sounded from the other side of the door, and Kyoong knocked back, again, 3 times.

The cycle repeated, Jongdae knew Kyoong was looking at him, as he watched his familiar repeated the same actions, until he finally get what Kyoong was trying to say.

“Take it inside?” Jongdae whispered, a hand still on Baekhyun’s arm, whose face was as confused as his.

Kyoong flown excitedly at that, Jongdae had to look at Baekhyun for some help, any help at all but Baekhyun could only shake his head.

“I don’t know much about ancient papers, but if you want to take it inside, don’t let it attack my plants.”

How can he ensure Baekhyun that the scroll would never attack anyone or anything? Jongdae himself didn’t want to take the scroll inside, but it was clear now that Kyoong wanted him to do it.

He sighed, looked back at Kyoong, at the main door, and now he could feel the magic from the ancient scroll reached him even beyond the door.

“Let’s do this…” he whispered, and despite his shaky voice, he stepped forward, put his hand on the door and told it with his magic to open itself for Jongdae, hoped that it would be safe to open the door and hoped that everything would turn out to be fine.

2104’s door clicked open, and Jongdae pulled it wider, finally facing face to face with the unwanted guest.

The ancient scroll was still floating on the air.

A white thread tying the scroll neatly, and the papers of the scroll had the same color like Kyong’s, and Jongdae couldn’t dismiss the idea that Kyoong probably knew the scroll.

Jongdae took another breath, Kyoong perched on his shoulder somehow gave him strength, as he held out his hand and connected his magic to the ancient scroll.

When he touched the ancient scroll, their magic connected without any fight at all.

And when Jongdae grabbed the ancient scroll firmly in his hand, the magic from the ancient scroll calmed down.

The ancient scroll was heavy, but it was tame in his hand.

Jongdae immediately hugged the scroll close to his chest, afraid if the scroll would do something bad or would try to escape somewhere and cause some harm, but surprisingly, the scroll just tame down and became a normal lifeless scroll.

He turned around, eyes pleaded to Baekhyun for some help. “What should I do…?”

“Let’s bring it inside first.”

* * *

Jongdae put the ancient scroll on the dining table.

Baekhyun’s vines came closer too, where Baekhyun and Jongdae stood near the dining table and looked at the lifeless scroll, with Kyoong was still standing on Jongdae’s shoulder.

“You want to open it?” Baekhyun asked, his nervous face wasn’t helping Jongdae at all.

“Do you mind?” Jongdae asked, his voice was still rough and he still felt chesty, but that wasn’t his main concern now.

Baekhyun shook his head. “I don’t think a scroll can kill us,” Jongdae glared at him. “No, I don’t mind. Go ahead.”

Jongdae exhaled through his mouth, reached for the white thread, Baekhyun eyed him carefully with clenched hands. But when Jongdae tried to untie the white thread, the thread actually resisted.

“What happened?” Baekhyun asked, noticed the struggle from Jongdae’s movement.

“I can’t--” he tried with more force this time, angled it to Baekhyun so that Baekhyun would understand that the white thread was now became rigid like a rock.

“It resisted?” Jongdae nodded, looked up at Baekhyun who seemed to think of something. “Do you want me to try?”

Jongdae thought for a second before he stepped back. There shouldn’t be no harm in letting Baekhyun touching the scroll right?

But when Baekhyun’s hand hovered near the ancient scroll, a force so strong emitted from it that Baekhyun had to pull back his hand quickly.

“The hell?” Baekhyun asked, frowning at the ancient scroll, and tried to touch it again.

Same, the whole ancient scroll emitted the strong magic again, as if it didn’t want Baekhyun to touch it--

No, it was true. It was actually refusing Baekhyun’s touch.

“Okay…” Baekhyun eyed the ancient scroll with full of judgement. “So, I’m the problem here?”

Jongdae shrugged, it did look like it, but it also looked like the ancient scroll didn’t want to hurt Baekhyun too.

“If I’m alone with the scroll…” Jongdae tried to suggest it, but Baekhyun was quick enough to catch the idea.

“Whatever is written inside is a top secret to begin with, right?” Baekhyun spoke. “Maybe it only wants you to read them. You alone. Since it’s you that this scroll is following, not me, not Kris Wu.”

Jongdae frowned at the mention of Kris Wu.

“This is my house, and I’ve been involved with this from the beginning so I’m not going to back out so suddenly now,” Baekhyun continued. “Read it alone in the guest room, and don’t tell me the content. I’m okay with that as long as it doesn’t cause trouble to my plant.” 

“I…” Jongdae felt the guilt towards Baekhyun increased in him, felt that he already troubled the Botanist Builder too much, but then he had no other option at the time being.

Baekhyun was right, he already involved Baekhyun and Baekhyun was now his accomplice.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae whispered, a hand already gripping the ancient scroll, which unsurprisingly, didn’t push Jongdae away like it did to Baekhyun. “I’m sorry, I’ll repay you back somehow.”

Baekhyun nodded and started to walk away.

Jongdae didn’t know what to say anymore, as he watched Baekhyun entered his own bedroom and left Jongdae alone at the dining table, even Kyoong was slumping on his shoulder.

Baekhyun was hard to understand.

Sometimes he was kind, sometimes he acted as if he couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Jongdae for too long, sometimes he didn’t mind Jongdae at all, and sometimes he looked as if Jongdae was so precious to him.

Jongdae couldn’t understand Baekhyun.

* * *

“Are you ready?” Jongdae asked Kyoong who flown near the door, tried to be Jongdae’s bodyguard.

The ancient scroll was now on the desk inside the guest room. Jongdae already locked the door, told the plants not to worry about him and even made sure the curtain covered the windows properly.

One could never predict how the Magic Ministry tried to find something or someone when they were extremely determined.

Jongdae reached out for the white thread again, and this time, it didn’t resist. This time, Jongdae could untie the thread and removed it from the scroll.

It unrolled itself with a thud, several papers overlapping each other, all in different sizes and thickness.

But all written in the same handwriting, the same language.

Jongdae took the paper at the top, felt the coarse material between his fingers, as he tried to read the writings on the paper.

“This is an ancient handwriting…” Jongdae whispered lowly, “These characters look like the one in you, Kyoong…”

Kyoong immediately flown near Jongdae, hovered over the paper too, as if it could read the writings.

Jongdae didn’t know much about this writing system. He knew some of the words, but he didn’t really know the language. His father taught him this ancient writing, but even then it was limited. Worst, the handwritings were so joined up and messy, Jongdae knew from the first look that it wasn’t going to be easy to decipher the paper.

“We’re going to stay up just for one paper, Kyoong…” Jongdae said, extremely excited to accept the challenge of deciphering the ancient language. It was 10 pm now, but he was too awake to even think about sleeping.

He checked the other papers and found that it was written by the same person but on different occasions, judging from the way the ink varied in pressure and colors.

After thinking for a full minute, Jongdae finally tied the scroll again, except for the paper that he picked previously which he put on the desk, and sealed the ancient scroll with his magic for extra protection.

The ancient scroll didn’t refuse his magic too.

He then left the room and headed towards the kitchen, filled in a bottle of water and made another bottle of coffee, put different kind of fruits on a plate and wished the plants good night before he entered the room again with the bottles and the plate.

He placed the items on the desk, pulled out a bunch of papers and a pencil from his backpack and he placed them on the desk too.

He was ready to start deciphering the handwritings, when his phone vibrated softly on the desk.

_You’re doing okay there?_

Jongdae could only smile, and replied with a short _ok, thanks_.

Another reply came immediately.

_Okay._

Jongdae sighed, folded his sweater sleeves and immediately started to focus on the writings instead, despite one thing was still weighing heavily in his head.

Jongdae couldn’t understand Baekhyun.

* * *

Jongdae stopped working at 4 am.

It was draining, and he couldn’t decipher any of the words, only finished separating the characters in the joined up writings and wrote them again on the blank paper.

Deciphering the words would take him more hours, and Jongdae was already so tired. He even had to sleep on the couch at the living room, because the guest room was full of magic emitted by the ancient scroll, and he already had enough of them.

“Don’t go inside, promise me,” he told the vines, which immediately crept around him when Jongdae emerged from the room with a pillow and a blanket in his hands. There were a few flowers glowing in the darkness, and that was enough light to guide Jongdae around the apartment. “I can’t sleep inside, it’s too suffocating.”

The vines followed him to the living room, and Jongdae arranged the pillow comfortably on the couch. “My familiar is in the room, so if you guys creep even a leaf inside the room…”

The vines immediately swayed their leaves nonstop, one even trailed around his arm and towards his pinky. A form of promise, that they would never creep into the guest room.

Jongdae chuckled, as he lay himself on the coach, entertained by the vines’ reactions.

“I know. You guys are good plants,” he yawned, already pulled the blanket all around his body. “What time your owner is usually awake?”

The vine on his arm left his pinky and formed the character 6 on his palm.

“Okay, let me sleep for 2 hours here.”

When he closed his eyes, it was so easy for him to fall asleep.

And when he opened up his eyes again, he was so surprised to see someone’s head near his arm.

Baekhyun was currently sitting on the floor, reading something from his laptop that he put on the coffee table there, and head relaxed on the couch, just near his arm.

“Wh—” damn, did he lost his voice again?

Baekhyun immediately straightened his back, turned his head towards Jongdae. “You’re awake?”

Jongdae nodded, tried to talk again, tried to at least whisper his voice out, but only incomplete word came out from his throat.

He hit his chest a few times, tried to clear his throat, but nothing changed.

“Your voice isn’t coming out?” Baekhyun frowned, automatically placed his hand on Jongdae’s forehead, and somehow Jongdae felt like his whole face was burning. “Damn. You’re heating. Let me make you a reliever.”

He rushed towards the kitchen, Jongdae wanted to say that it wasn’t a big deal, but how could he when he couldn’t even say one proper word?

When Baekhyun came back with a glass of water filled with pale yellow liquid, his first instinct was to frown at Baekhyun.

“A reliever, silly. I’m not going to cause more harm to you,” Baekhyun sat on the arm of the couch, Jongdae sat himself properly and took the glass from Baekhyun’s hand. “The plants said you’re staying up too late. Your voice isn’t even fully healed yet, you should have enough rest first.”

Jongdae chose to ignore Baekhyun and drank the water in one go, totally relieved by the cold and the sweetness of it _. Kyoong?_ He mouthed to Baekhyun, while wiping his mouth.

Baekhyun sighed. “Still in the guest room. I don’t want to touch the room at all,” he took the glass back and stood again. “You better rescue your familiar, it’s knocking nonstop on the door and it’s nearly noon now.”

That was enough to make Jongdae’s eyes wide, immediately reached for his phone on the floor to check the time and rushed towards the guest room.

Kyoong greeted him once he opened the door, snuggled on his chest and Jongdae scanned the room for any signs of disturbance. The ancient scroll was still neatly tied on the desk, Kyoong didn’t show any sign of distress too, only longing to find Jongdae’s warmth.

Baekhyun and his plants could enter Jongdae’s list of trustworthy party now.

It wasn’t easy to fight the urge to check on something of utmost secret, it didn’t help that the magic seeping from the ancient scroll could even be reached outside of the room, a faint touch of it even flowing into the living room. But Baekhyun and his plants didn’t even peek inside, and continued to do their usual activities just fine.

Jongdae sighed in relief, checked on his phone again to read the notifications and he immediately frowned.

Baekhyun was still sitting on the floor, continued to read the things on his laptop again when Jongdae approached him, Kyoong was now flying freely around the apartment.

_Why can’t we leave the apartment today?_

The text from the Guild’s Head was simple and short, he was sure that Baekhyun had received them too since Baekhyun didn’t leave for his laboratory. He was sniffling when he showed his phone to Baekhyun, and Baekhyun frowned instead. “Are you in a fever?”

Jongdae just shoved his phone on Baekhyun’s face more, Baekhyun had to hold the phone to stop Jongdae from moving his hand dramatically.

“The Ministry is checking the Guild’s buildings today, to find the missing…items,” Baekhyun paused, and Jongdae knew Baekhyun was referring to the ancient papers in Jongdae’s library and in his own guest room. “They can’t check residential places, you know how strict apartment complexes are. It’s better for us to stay here for the time being.”

Baekhyun was clearly leaving something extremely important in his words, and Jongdae typed furiously.

_They are suspecting both of us?_

Baekhyun sighed and patted the couch, a silent order to ask Jongdae to sit first. He followed, sat at the end of the coach, while Baekhyun turned his body around and tilted his head higher to look at Jongdae properly.

“Yes, they are,” Jongdae bit his lip unconsciously. “Look, I’m not going to sell you out to the Ministry or even to the Head. You can try to figure out the ancient scroll here, I don’t really mind. Let’s just try to avoid any more scene right now. Imagine, if you leave the apartment and the papers follow you too? It’s not going to make things easier for you.”

Jongdae whined soundlessly, typing his phone fast while wiping his snot, he couldn’t stop sniffling.

_I can’t leave this building?_

“Yes, if you ask my opinion, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go anywhere else until you figure those ancient papers out,” Baekhyun slowly stood and bent over Jongdae, both hands cupping Jongdae’s cheeks. “And you’re feverish. Go lie down again.”

Jongdae wanted to protest, but Baekhyun already pushed him back to lie down on the couch.

Of course Jongdae was tired, and somehow he stopped resisting. So many things happened on the last few days, the rest that he had at the hospital didn’t feel like a rest at all, and to top all of it, he was so frustrated that his voice hadn’t recover yet.

“What do you want to eat? I’m running out of groceries.” Baekhyun asked, fingers scrolling the food delivery app on his phone, as he sat at the arm of the couch near Jongdae’s head. “I’ll make you some medicine from the plants but I need you to eat something before that.”

He turned his body and lay on his side, tried to glance at Baekhyun’s phone too. Baekhyun took pity on him and scooted closer so Jongdae could see them too, scrolling slowly to let Jongdae decide.

But Baekhyun’s fingers were so pretty.

Jongdae believed that his fever was starting to hallucinate him. Instead of looking at the screen, he looked at the way Baekhyun’s fingers moved, at the neat nails and the mole on the thumb.

Baekhyun’s fingers were extremely beautiful.

Jongdae was too focus on Baekhyun’s fingers and Baekhyun was probably too focus on being patient with how slow Jongdae was on deciding what he wanted to eat, that they didn’t even notice Kyoong flapping nervously on top of them, anxiously staring at the now opened door.

They were too focus on each other for their own reasons, that they didn’t even notice that there was a visitor carefully walked into the living room.

“Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun nearly dropped his phone due to the sudden voice and Jongdae immediately jumped and scrambled to sit when they finally noticed the guest in the apartment.

The guest wore a white shirt and black pants, those were normal attire for any workers and didn’t belong to the Ministry or the Guild. He wore a black framed glasses, looked like nerd with his neat haircut and his soft voice.

“Holy, I’m so sorry but I did knock and your door didn’t resist me…” the guest said and immediately gasped too, his eyes were on Baekhyun, Jongdae noticed that, because the visitor looked so weird to gasp after he looked at Baekhyun. _Wait…_

“Kyungsoo, shit. I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear it,” Baekhyun stood and now he looked as if he didn’t know what to do with his arms and legs, eyes panicked while looking at the floor for something that Jongdae didn’t know. “Did you text me? I probably missed it.”

“I didn’t, I’m sorry,” the Kyungsoo guy replied, and now he looked as awkward as Baekhyun too, and now Jongdae couldn’t help but to feel awkward together with them. “I came to your lab today and they said you’re not well so I thought to come here straight instead of disturbing your rest.”

Jongdae’s eyes immediately fell to the grocery bags on both of Kyungsoo’s hands, the scallions were too long that they peeked from the bag…did this person buy groceries for Baekhyun?

Baekhyun’s boyfriend?

The thought crossed his brain so fast that it skipped the screening phase and quickly jumped to the conclusion, waving both of his hands in panic.

_I did nothing with him!_

He couldn’t voice out but he still tried to mouth them out but he coughed instead, and this time, this Kyungsoo guy actually looked at him.

And the guy shook his head so fast, Jongdae thought the guy had some whiplash.

“I…” the guest spoke, blinked his eyes for a few times, Jongdae couldn’t help but to stand, afraid if he did something wrong to the guy. “I’m sorry for disturbing. I’m Do Kyungsoo, Baekhyun’s friend.”

Kyungsoo bowed his head respectfully, and Jongdae did the same, wanted to introduce himself too, but again, he could only cough. Thankfully, Baekhyun came to rescue him.

“Kim Jongdae, my colleague. He lost his voice,” Jongdae couldn’t miss the way Kyungsoo looked judgingly at Baekhyun. “And the flying book is his familiar.”

Kyoong perched on Jongdae’s shoulder, Kyungsoo looked at the book and once again, avoiding Jongdae’s eyes, only focused to look at Kyoong. “I came unannounced, I’m so sorry.” And Kyungsoo’s eyes immediately fleeted to Baekhyun’s. “I can leave…”

Despite the mysterious vibes given by Kyungsoo, Jongdae couldn’t help but to feel guilty instead. He waved his hands again, mouthed _it’s okay_ , only to sneeze this time.

“You’re unwell?” Kyungsoo asked with concern, and finally, he held a firm stare with Jongdae.

Kyungsoo was unreadable.

Jongdae was so curious, because Kyungsoo was so mysterious, that he mouthed something else, instead of answering Kyungsoo’s question.

_Are you a mage?_

Both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo looked taken aback by that one simple question.

Asking that one question, actually meant a lot.

It could be considered as asking if one should be weary and careful with the other person, if one should be cautious or friendly with the other person, if one should let their guard down or act freely with the other person.

The question also could be considered as rude, because it was one’s choice and freedom either to tell the other people if they were a mage or not, that rarely someone asked in the first meeting if one was a mage or not, and certainly not in the first few minutes of the first encounter.

And Jongdae understood, that Kyungsoo could choose to tell the truth or to lie, and Jongdae would still had no idea if he could trust Kyungsoo.

There was no magic aura surrounding Kyungsoo.

But there was an extreme mystery surrounding Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo’s round eyes blinked once, and he relaxed his shoulder, a small smile formed on his lips.

“I’m a normal human.”

* * *

Kyungsoo insisted to cook the lunch for them since he already bought ingredients for to make some porridge.

“I thought you’re the one that is sick,” Jongdae listened to the duo talking at the kitchen, he himself already lay back on the couch, eyes closed, pretending to take a nap.

“Easier to say that I’m sick rather than I’m tired,” Baekhyun replied. “You heard the incident at the Magic Ministry yesterday? I was there. I think the Mute magic is making me tired. Probably what is making him sick too.”

Now, Jongdae still couldn’t decide if Kyungsoo was really a normal human or not, but he decided that Kyungsoo was a kind person since he insisted fiercely with his round eyes and stern face that he wouldn’t leave without cooking a healthy lunch for them.

But he couldn’t dismiss that weird feelings when he heard them talking, because they talked as if they were reading a script, as if they were communicating in a different way and showing the staged version instead to other people. Jongdae didn’t know how to explain it, but he could only concluded it in one simple sentence.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were talking as if they already knew what was on each other’s minds.

He saw it with Jongin and Sehun, he saw how they nodded with each other with no words exchanged between them, since those words were already been exchanged in their minds.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were psychic twins? But Baekhyun didn’t know that Kyungsoo was coming to his apartment. Kyungsoo could read people’s minds? No, Mind Readers were so rare and hunted by the government for as long as the history could remember because of their powers and none could easily live in freedom without the threats from other mages.

He wanted so badly to suspect Kyungsoo and to get mad at Baekhyun for not telling him much about Kyungsoo, but when he opened up his eyes and glanced at the kitchen, he couldn’t find a reason to be a bad person at all.

Because Baekhyun was crushing some leaves on the pestle to make Jongdae’s medicine, while Kyungsoo was standing in front of the stove, calmly stirring the pot with Baekhyun’s vines trailing around Kyungsoo’s waist. The best surprise ever? Kyoong was perched on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, so interested to see what Kyungsoo was currently cooking.

If Jongdae couldn’t decide if someone was good or not, he would usually let Kyoong do the judging instead, because magical beings were better in noticing the hidden intention anyway.

The way Kyoong warmed up to Kyungsoo at no time at all reminded him of the first time he met Chanyeol during the high school.

He didn’t know if he should be friendly with Chanyeol at that time, added with the extreme stress that came in the body of every growing teenager, he didn’t know whom should he choose to befriended with. But Kyoong was behaving in a good way around Chanyeol the most, just like how he behaved with Kyungsoo right now.

Jongdae scoffed without a voice, felt the serenity while watching the scene at the kitchen, was amazed by how fast 2104 felt like home to him now.

He closed his eyes, let the smell of the flowers around him soothe his body and his mind.

_I’m home._

* * *

Kris Wu did call him that afternoon.

After taking the medicine made by Baekhyun, his temperature didn’t increase anymore, but he was sneezing nonstop and only managed to whisper broken words when he tried to talk back to Kris Wu.

Jongdae stood, walked towards the window of the guestroom and pushed the curtain a bit to check on the weather.

It was raining heavily the whole night yesterday, a clear indicator of Kris Wu’s mood. But now the clouds were dark and heavy but the rain had already stopped.

Still, Jongdae shouldn’t let his guard down. Kris Wu already ended the call since Jongdae was clearly not in the condition to talk, and he received a text message instead.

_When you’re well enough, let’s do another reading session._

Jongdae sighed heavily, looked at the piece of ancient paper in front of him and calculated on how to reply to the text message instead. He wanted to decipher this handwriting, realized that he had another bunch of papers to decipher, not to mention the other papers waiting inside of his library, and now, Kris Wu.

He already decided that he would meet Kris Wu at least until he managed to decipher one paper. He should understand at least one paper first before he met Kris Wu. He should try to find the reason why the papers were running away from Kris Wu.

He replied a short _okay_ to the tall guy, didn’t even feel bad about it, and took his pencil to start decipher the ancient writing again.

Kyungsoo already left the apartment after lunch and Baekhyun was reading journals again at the living room, when Jongdae told him that he would camp inside the guestroom to read the ancient scroll.

“Okay, just text if you need anything.”

The way Baekhyun said it as if he didn’t care much about what Jongdae was doing confused him so much.

But that was a worry that he kept for another time.

Jongdae worked so hard despite the flu, even wrapped himself with the duvet and continued to try different letters for different characters.

By night, he realized that he was deciphering a poem.

Kyoong was already sleeping on the bed when Jongdae nearly finished deciphering the ancient paper.

And he knew that he managed to decipher them completely when the ancient paper started to disintegrate slowly from every corner, the ink started to disappear, and the paper turned into nothingness, leaving Jongdae with feelings that he couldn’t even explain.

Jongdae reread what he already deciphered, tried to connect the meaning of every lines. The language was definitely ancient, some words were unfamiliar to Jongdae, but the poem was extremely straight forward, and he was certain that there was no hidden meaning behind it, only the pure intention of the poet.

The purest intention of a person, towards their lover.

By dawn, he understood that he was deciphering an ancient love poem.

_Master Suho told him on one autumn morning that the alchemists at the main palace managed to create a new kind of paper._

_The paper was rumored to be soaked in gold and expensive teas, to make it firmer, so one could write on it better._

_Chen couldn’t wait to write on this new paper, but he also understood that scholars would never hold an ownership over such paper. Those papers were for the royalties, and Chen was only a young scholar, just recently passed his exam to be a scholar._

_Still, he dreamed about touching the paper, dreamed about bringing even just a small strip of the paper, so that he could write his name on it, so that he could experience the feeling of writing on such a marvelous golden paper._

_He talked about it with fellow young scholars, all who wanted to take a glimpse of this paper._

_“The alchemists keep it in the library of the main palace,” Master Suho said one day, just to entice the young scholars._

_Chen had never stepped inside the main palace, for only the highest scholars were chosen to enter the restricted place. But there were loopholes that Chen could work around, the most possible for him to use for his advantage was when the young scholars were permitted to enter the main palace just to accompany the high masters to help them carried the heaps of books, and Chen was determined to use the loophole._

_“Master Suho, can I help you carry the books tomorrow?” he asked during the new moon, when the night was so dark._

_But Master Suho only smiled at him, and continued to read his book._

_“Master Suho, I can help you carry the books tomorrow!” Chen tried again with full determination, when the waxing crescent moon peeked playfully behind the clouds._

_But Master Suho just shook his head gently while silently writing his thoughts on a book._

_“Master Suho, let me help you with your books tomorrow!” Chen didn’t know the meaning of giving up, when the first quarter moon rested itself on the fluffiest clouds._

_But Master Suho continued to pretend to take a nap, but Chen could see the small smile lifted from Master Suho’s lips._

_“Master Suho, I want to go to the main palace with you tomorrow!” Chen said his intention out loud, the waxing gibbous moon somehow gave him extra courage today._

_But Master Suho just stared at Chen, and after 5 minutes of silence, he shook his head firmly._

_“Master Suho, I want to see the golden paper tomorrow, please,” Chen didn’t hide anything that night, a full moon hung proudly on the night skies._

_And this time, Master Suho nodded his head once._

_Chen, despite his excitement to finally enter the main palace, and to finally enter the library of the main palace, was too nervous when he took his first step on the restricted ground._

_He didn’t even dare to glance around, kept his head bowed down, arms trembling while holding the stacks of books, only to follow Master Suho’s confident steps closely, always in a quick pace._

_When they finally entered the library of the main palace, Chen placed the books carefully on the table._

_“I’m going to teach the princes for a few hours. Sort the books accordingly,” Master Suho said, ready to leave the library, but stopped once he reached the sliding door. “What you’re looking for is stored at the room at the back. But please, be careful with your every move.”_

_Master Suho immediately exited the library, leaving Chen with his mouth opened wide, for he couldn’t believe that he would finally see the golden paper._

_Chen was already sweating when he walked towards the said room._

_Chen was trembling when he pushed the sliding door as silent as he could._

_And Chen nearly fell on his knees when he saw a figure lying on the floor of the small room._

_Is he dead? Am I in trouble? Should I call for help?_

_Chen didn’t know what to do, so he stepped closed towards the figure, held his own breath as he tried to see for any signs of the other person was still breathing…_

_And exhaled silently when he saw that the person was only sleeping._

_Chen looked at the sleeping person carefully, knew that whoever this person was, he was certain that the person lived inside the restricted ground based on his dark purple robe and the rich shine he could see from the material._

_And what took Chen’s attention the most were the thick papers that the person hugged so closely around his chest._

_Those were the golden papers._

_The golden papers were certainly like what the other scholars said; thick, firmer and with a nice weight compared to the usual paper given to the scholars._

_Chen’s curiosity possessed him more than his consciences._

_So he reached out his hand, dying to touch the golden papers with even just the tip of his fingers…_

_But before he could touch those golden papers, a hand gripped his wrist so suddenly, Chen was beyond surprise._

_A pair of eyes was looking at him, opened wide._

_And that was enough to take Chen’s breath away, as he immediately felt like drowning in those eyes._

_Drowning helplessly in the dark during a high tide, witnessed only by the full moon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's go back to the past, or do you reject?


	6. Past; Of the Sun and the Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last week is somewhat a roller coaster, I'm not in a condition to post anything last week, so sorry for that!
> 
> this is the past; of Chen and Kyoong.

All the members of the royal family had a pair of dark blue eyes.

It was probably genetic, but then it was also the proof of a divine protection from the deities, when one of the old emperors asked the deities to protect his heirs by chasing away the evil spirits and the demonic souls from nearing his bloodline.

So the deities gave the royal families a pair of dark blue eyes to let them see the evil spirits and the demonic souls.

Kyoong had a pair of dark blue eyes.

He wasn’t the Crown Prince, and he wasn’t the youngest prince.

He was the Fourth Prince, and somehow the number four was considered as bad luck, so the Emperor didn’t pay much attention to him. He still gave Kyoong his own quarters, still asked the royal scholars to teach Kyoong the philosophies of life, still let Kyoong to train with the soldiers.

But, that was all. His father didn’t talk with Kyoong personally often, only to listen about his whereabouts from the Crown Prince, was easily satisfied to know that Kyoong was doing good in his life.

And that was all.

The Empress entertained the Crown Prince and the youngest prince the most, the favoritism wasn’t anything new by then.

Kyoong was the closest with the Third Prince, Kibum.

Kibum was fearless in his every move, and that influenced Kyoong greatly in his life, to the point that he grew up idolizing the Third Prince.

_“You don’t like reading the book? Then don’t read it!”_

_“You don’t want to attend the morning lecture? Go ahead and continue sleeping!”_

_“You want to shoot the arrows until dawn? No one is stopping you, so just do it!”_

Kyoong followed Kibum’s carefree style, for it was a better philosophy compared to the one taught in morning lectures. Both of them were too carefree for royal princes, both of them were always scolded by the Crown Prince for they always ended up in trouble for their own carelessness.

“I want to go outside,” Kibum said often, whenever he dropped by Kyoong’s quarters.

“You know we can’t, hyung,” Kyoong replied, swinging his bamboo sword repetitively on the wooden dummy, “The guards are too tight, and, well. We have dark blue eyes.”

“To hell with dark blue eyes,” Kibum kicked a stone with extreme frustration. “Protecting us from the evil spirits? I still can’t see ghosts even with these dark blue eyes!”

Kyoong laughed at him, for he knew that his brother was afraid of the ghost. “Do you think one day we can cast magic like the others?”

There was silence accompanying that question. Kibum only stared at the blue skies above, didn’t look as if he wanted to answer.

The Crown Prince and the Second Prince already could cast some magic. The Crown Prince already managed to control the wind, and the Second Prince could heal some easy wounds.

It was only natural that the pressure to know some sort of magic now burdening both Kibum and Kyoong, for their ages were only three seasons apart.

“One day, something will trigger our magic ability, hyung,” Kyoong spoke instead, already stopped hitting the dummy. “One day, they’ll notice us too.”

* * *

Kyoong hated the morning lectures so much.

He was a night owl, preferred to read books until the candles in the box ran out, until the cold air of dawn seeped into his chamber.

His eunuch never giving up on him nonetheless, would always tried to bathe Kyoong while he was still half awaken, would always change his attire despite Kyoong’s frequent grumbles so that they would be ready for the morning lecture.

“Can I have a personal lecture tomorrow instead?” Kyoong lay on his mattress lifelessly after they returned from the morning lecture, already felt too draining to continue his day.

“You know the Emperor isn’t going to be pleased to see your absence, My Prince,” his eunuch replied guiltily. “That’s the only time the Emperor can see you after all.”

“I don’t really think he wanted to see me. He just wanted to save his own face in front of the other ministers.”

“My Prince!” his eunuch panicked, quickly shushed him so that he would stop talking bad about the Emperor.

“You know I’m not lying,” Kyoong pouted. “Please, I want a personal lecture tomorrow. It’ll be better if they send Master Suho to teach me. His teaching is the best among all the other scholars.”

His eunuch sighed and thought for a while. If there was someone that Kyoong trusted the most after Kibum, it must be his eunuch.

“Fine. But I don’t think the Emperor would be happy to know you wanted to ditch the morning lecture and replacing it with a personal one.”

Kyoong closed his eyes and shook his head. “The important thing is to always study the philosophies, right? Then I see no problem to switch it once in a while. I’m only asking for tomorrow. Or maybe another tomorrow too.”

“My Prince!” his eunuch whined, but Kyoong only smiled, already started to drift away in the dreamland because of his lack of sleep.

* * *

His request to replace the morning lecture with a personal lecture had been approved by the Crown Prince immediately, but that didn’t mean that Kyoong would be ready immediately. 

He still went to sleep once the dawn arrived, he still bathed in half asleep state, and he still yawned nonstop despite having extra hours than usual to get ready for his personal lecture session with Master Suho.

At least it was Master Suho who would teach him. Master Suho was both strict and lenient in his way of teachings, but he never scolded Kyoong for stupid things such as missing a word in his recital or writing a wrong character whenever he was being tested after each session.

Less than half an hour before the personal teaching started, and only then that Kyoong realized he forgot to ask his eunuch to restock his writing papers.

“I’m going to the Main Library to get some papers,” his eunuch already opened his mouth to protest, but Kyoong quickly shook his head. “Let me take it myself. I really need a short walk to freshen up, I’m still sleepy.”

“But—”

“Stay here, and wait for Master Suho. I don’t want to disrespect him by greeting him with an empty chamber.”

His eunuch could only sigh and bowed down his head.

It took him 10 minutes to go to the Main Library from his quarters, but since he only wanted to take the papers and return back quickly, Kyoong refused to be accompanied by the guards.

“I’m going to walk extremely fast,” he said, and almost ran towards the Main Library.

When he reached the Main Library, he immediately went to the room at the back, where the scholars kept all the writing papers, and suddenly Kyoong realized something.

“Master Suho will enter the Main Library first, right? He’ll usually send some new books here before he went to a lecture,” Kyoong talked to himself, while picking a few sheets of the golden paper. “Better to wait for him here, then we can walk together to my quarters.”

Kyoong decided, and sat himself on the cushion near the low table at the middle of the room, took a book from the shelf and put it on the table, his own arms hugging the golden papers tightly to his chest.

Books; they had their own natural power that didn’t need any magic at all. A person that touch a book, can either forgot about sleeping for hours, or fall instantly in sleep in just a few minutes.

Kyoong wasn’t immune to both spells, and when he usually fell for the former spell at night, that morning he fell for the latter.

Only when he heard the faint noises of clothes rustling that he somehow awakened and realized that he was lying on the floor, succumb to the sudden sleep.

Kyoong’s first instinct was to panic, but then he remembered all the teachings from the Crown Prince, to steady his breathing, to act normal so that the intruder would think that they got the upper hand.

But then, he thought again. Who was brave enough to enter the back room of the Main Library at this time? Was it one of his bodyguards who went to check on him? But if it was his bodyguard, they would announce their arrival.

This intruder just blatantly entered the room, in a stealthy movement to begin with.

Kyoong listened to the intruder’s movement, revised quickly what he had learned about an ambush attack, and tried his best to control his breathing…

The intruder was hovering over him.

Kyoong didn’t know what to do. He had never been ambushed before, it was the Crown Prince who often been attacked by the enemies, but never him.

And why him? He was so unpopular, he wasn’t the favorite prince, he had no magic—

Ah, that was probably the reason why he had been targeted. He had no magic, he was totally defenseless, and he had no weapon around him.

Stupid Kyoong. Was this how he met his death?

He suddenly alerted again by the sound of rustling, the sound of the intruder’s clothes where the fabrics rubbing against each other, now reaching out towards Kyoong.

He decided that today wasn’t going to be the day that he would die, and with a quick judgement, he opened up his eyes, saw a hand stretched out towards his chest, and immediately grabbed whatever he could grip, totally caught the intruder off guard.

Somehow the intruder was so surprised, he couldn’t even react, rigid while bending his body over Kyoong.

There was an amazement in the intruder’s eyes, the eyes were kind, Kyoong decided, and the intruder looked to kind to be an ambush killer. The intruder was wearing the scholar’s uniform, and his brain quickly connected the facts.

The scholar was probably just wanted to take some books or things from the room, and Kyoong mistaken him as an ambush killer.

Stupid Kyoong.

“My…My Prince…”

Kyoong’s eyes widened, wonder how did the intruder know he was a prince, for he never saw the intruder before this, only to remember that his eyes gave away everything to the world.

“My Prince…” the scholar repeated, panic now replacing the amazed in his eyes, “I’m sorry to wake you up!”

The scholar immediately pulled away his hand, quickly bowed in front of Kyoong, and repetitively apologized to him. Kyoong was speechless at the sudden turn of event, wanted to tell the scholar that it was okay, that he brought no harm to him…

When suddenly the room darkened, as if night suddenly came without warning, only lighted up by the moonlight.

Kyoong immediately looked at the sliding door, noticed that outside was dark too, and he quickly nudged the scholar on the shoulder with the golden papers.

“Stop that,” he said, when the scholar began to apologize again. “Look outside.”

The scholar stopped apologize, straightened his back and folded both of his legs under his thighs, hands tense on both of his knees, eyes now looking at the sliding doors.

Kyoong glanced at the scholar, noticed how the scholar’s eyes went from the restlessness of being caught, to pure confusion, before it turned into fully blown panic.

“Lunar…eclipse?” The scholar whispered nervously.

Lunar eclipse? Kyoong didn’t know much about astronomy, didn’t pay a lot of attention in the astronomy lecture, so he couldn’t comment further on the scholar’s suspicion. Kyoong put the golden papers on the table and stood, wanted to know what was happening, when suddenly the sound of the gong alerted both of them.

An announcement from the Royal Court.

They waited in the room, listened to the gong, counted silently in their heads.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Seven hits.

“That’s an emergency!” Kyoong shouted, arms already pulling the scholar with him. “Come on, we need to go outside!”

The scholar stumbled due to the sudden pull, Kyoong steadied him up before rushing towards the door, a hand already placed on the door, when the scholar spoken nervously.

“My Prince…your hands…”

Confused, Kyoong looked at the scholar, who was looking at his hand, so Kyoong looked at his hand and gaping loudly when he realized what was the scholar talking about.

His hand was glowing, wrapped in a warm light.

He looked at his other hand, noticed the same light surrounding it up to his wrists, and Kyoong immediately panicked.

“What is this? Is this my magic? Oh my, what should I do?” Kyoong looked at the scholar, but the scholar was equally speechless.

Great, now they were two panicking adults, Kyoong just kept looking at his hands, tried to make sense of what was happening to him, almost jumped off his feet when he heard his eunuch’s voice.

“My Prince! Prince Kyoong!”

Kyoong hid his hands inside his large robe, pulled the scholar closed to him. “Don’t say anything, just follow me. I need to show this to my hyung,” the scholar was confused, so Kyoong added. “You’re probably my magic enabler.”

“I—” the scholar wanted to add, but the sliding door was pushed open so violently, both of them turned to look at the door.

“Prince Kyoong!” Kyoong’s eunuch sighed in extreme relief, quickly stepped closer and observed Kyoong’s condition. “Are you okay? The lunar eclipse has fallen upon us!”

Kyoong frowned, “So it’s really a lunar eclipse?”

“Yes! The Emperor is calling all the high scholars to the Royal Court now!” his eunuch answered, “Please go back to your quarters, My Prince! We don’t want the eclipse’s curse to be casted on us!”

His eunuch wanted to pull him, but Kyoong resisted strongly. “No, I want to see Kibum hyung now.”

“But—”

“Now! And you shouldn’t follow me! This scholar will escort me to the Thrid Prince’s quarters!”

“Prince Kyoong!” His eunuch’s face fell, eyes so wide, but Kyoong was firm on his decision.

“Wait for me at my quarters,” he stepped outside of the room, eyes adjusting to the darkness while making his way around the Main Library, fingers grabbing the scholar’s arm tightly through his robe’s long sleeve, hiding his own hands from his eunuch. The scholar obediently followed him, head held low, mouthing sorry to the stunned eunuch. “The lecture has been cancelled, isn’t it? Master Suho is going to the Royal Court now?”

The eunuch, who was tailing both Kyoong and the scholar guiltily, replied. “Yes, My Prince. The people are ordered to stay awake too, for falling asleep may cause them to succumb to the moon’s curse.”

“Why would such a beautiful moon cursing us evilly?” the scholar whispered to himself but Kyoong could hear it. Kyoong glanced at him, but it was hard to look at the scholar with his head still looking on the ground.

“Go, I’ll return safely. Make sure the maids are all awake,” Kyoong ordered his eunuch once they exited the Main Library. He looked around the palace, felt the eeriness from the lunar eclipse filled his whole body. There were hues of red in the skies, and when Kyoong found the moon, the moon was scarily round in red.

A bleeding moon.

Despite his hesitance, his eunuch ran back towards his quarters, leaving Kyoong and the scholar all alone.

“Look at me, scholar,” Kyoong ordered. The scholar, who was tilting his head high while looking at the moon, immediately focused his attention on Kyoong. Such a warm pair of eyes, and Kyoong was so intrigued with him now. “What’s your name?”

“Chen.”

“Chen,” Kyoong tasted the name on his tongue. “I’m the Fourth Prince, Kyoong. I’ll bring you to meet the Third Prince, Kibum, because he’s the person that I trusted the most in this palace. And if it’s true that you’re the person who’s enabling my magic power, then I want him to know about it first.”

Chen bit his lip for a second, eyes clearly thinking on how to reply to Kyoong’s words, but Kyoong decided that for him, dark blue eyes looking over to the direction where the sound of marching steps was getting louder, probably the guards coming to round the area.

“Follow me. Quick.”

* * *

His dark blue eyes might be a curse sometimes, but they were also his free pass to do whatever he pleased on the palace ground.

The guards couldn’t stop him when he entered Kibum’s quarters, Kibum’s eunuch couldn’t stop him when he announced himself in front of Kibum’s chamber.

“What do you want from me?” Kibum lounging lazily on his comfy cushions, eyes lingered curiously on Chen, but Kyoong didn’t want to talk about this matter easily. “Eclipse is here, Kyoong. You should meditate in your own chamber, instead of wandering around and risk yourself to be one of the moon’s victims.”

Now Kyoong could understand why Chen sighed earlier. The moon’s curses sounded stupid when he heard it repetitively like this.

Kibum’s chambers were brightened up by a few candles on every corner, the lunar eclipse made everyone so restless, the guards around Kibum’s quarters already walked around with lanterns too.

But here Kyoong was, totally restless for a whole different reason.

“Can you dismiss your maids and guards? I want to talk with you privately,” Kyoong folded both of his legs on the floor, sat himself right in front of Kibum, hands still hidden in his sleeves.

There were no jokes in Kyoong’s tone, Kibum looked at him directly in the eyes, fully interested with his brother now. With just a sway of his hand, his eunuch bowed down respectfully and exited his chamber, the sound of the maids and guards left the room could be heard, as they tried to find another shelter in the quarters, all afraid of the moon’s curses.

“Who’s this?” Kibum looked at Chen, who was standing farther at the back, head low ever since he entered the chamber.

“A scholar from the Main Library, his name is Chen,” Kyoong answered urgently. “Hyung, promise me you’ll accept this news kindly.”

Kibum raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What? What’s happening? You can cast a magic now?”

Kyoong gulped visibly.

He thought about this when he walked towards Kibum’s quarters. Kibum never voiced it out, but Kyoong knew, just like him, Kibum really wanted to be able to cast magic, to prove that he really deserved the title of the Prince.

A soft cushion hit Kyoong directly on his face, stopping him from further debating with himself. “What’re you daydreaming about? That I’ll be miserable now that you found your magic and I’m not? Of course I’ll be miserable! But that’s not going to stop me from trying to find the source of my own magic!”

Kyoong blinked his eyes a few times at his brother, Kibum was openly furious at him. A few seconds passed before Kyoong finally gave Kibum a smile, truly glad that his brother was honest with him, even in this situation.

“Sorry, hyung,” his smile was soft, and now he could feel how slimy his hands were, now that it was time to show Kibum his magically brightened hands. “But yeah, I can—no, I don’t think I can cast magic yet, but something magical happened to me.”

“Oh?” Kibum’s face went from annoyed to curious, a smirk curled on his lips. “And I assume the scholar is the one who discovered it with you? Wait! Don’t tell me he’s your enabler?”

Kibum was crouching closer at Kyoong, Kyoong himself was a shade redder, Chen remained muted at the back. “I think he is…”

“Then show me now!” Kibum insisted.

Kyoong took a deep breath, his hands were trembling when he took them out of his sleeves, Kibum’s eyes were getting bigger as he saw those hands—the glowing hands, as bright as the candle lights themselves.

“You are…” Kibum spoke, in awe. “You’re glowing! Can I touch it? Wait, no, it’s probably dangerous,” Kibum raised his head to look pass Kyoong’s shoulder, to look at Chen at the back. “Hey, scholar. Come closer and sit here.”

Kyoong didn’t turn around but he could hear the soft steps, the rustles of clothes, as Chen sat himself right next to Kyoong, whole body was still bowing towards both of the princes.

“Look at me, scholar,” Kibum ordered, and Chen lifted his head. His eyes were afraid and Kyoong pitied him. Kibum was scary when he needed to be, and contrary to Kyoong, Kibum wasn’t the type to be friendly in the first meeting. “Can you cast a magic too?”

Chen immediately shook his head. “No, My Prince. I’ve never casted a magic.”

“Hmmm, interesting,” Kibum said, seemed thoughtful for a while. “Usually an enabler can cast a magic too. What happened exactly, Kyoong?”

Kyoong thought quickly, Kibum knew how careless Kyoong sometimes, but he chose to omit the fact that he overslept in the main library from his story. “I held his wrist, the eclipse happened, and suddenly my hands glowing.”

Kibum was clearly judging him, Kyoong never retold a story as simple as that, but he didn’t push Kyoong. “Maybe it’s the eclipse that’s actually enabling your magic?”

It could also possibly happened, and Kyoong gaped once before he looked at his hands again.

“I don’t know, hyung...” Kyoong whispered. “Should we tell the others?”

Kibum shrugged. “How are you feeling right now? You think those hands of yours will hurt other people?”

Out of curiosity, Kyoong held out his hand and touched Kibum’s cheek, only to be surprised when Kibum immediately slapped away his hand.

“Kyoong! Your fingers are scorching hot!” Kibum whined, grabbing his hand mirror quickly on the floor to check his face for any wound. His cheek was clearly reddened.

“What?” Kyoong was confused. Chen didn’t complain anything when Kyoong grabbed him through his clothes, and Kyoong himself didn’t feel any heat from his hand. He touched Chen’s hand without any warning, but surprisingly, Chen didn’t flinch like Kibum did.

“You…Don’t feel any pain?” Kyoong asked nervously.

Chen shook his head, and replied with the same amount of nervousness, “No.”

“Holy moon. He’s really your magic enabler,” Kibum concluded.

* * *

The Crown Prince looked at them with a grim face.

The chamber of the Crown Prince was a lot bigger than Kibum and Kyoong’s chambers, the candles lining up all over the room gave a scary touch to the whole room instead of providing light and easiness to Kyoong.

The skies were still dark outside, the full moon was still bleeding red for more than 3 hours already. The meeting at the Royal Court already ended half an hour ago, and the conclusion was causing panic to everyone in the palace.

The scholars who studied astronomy all said the same thing.

Total solar eclipse shouldn’t happen this month. The moon shouldn’t bleed so suddenly this month.

And now, Kyoong sat humbly in front of the Crown Prince, Master Suho sat close behind him with Chen next to Master Suho, and the Crown Prince sighed loudly, as he stared at Kyoong’s hands.

“Kyoong,’ he began. “That’s the magic of the moon in your hands.” Kyoong gulped visibly, for it didn’t sound like a good thing. The Crown Prince saw the conflicts in Kyoong’s eyes, so he continued. “Sun and Moon, they met, they lined up together with us, the ground, and the eclipse will fall upon us. This magic is so rare, this magic of the moon. And it so happens that you’re holding the magic of the moon, and finally met your enabler, right when the moon is full,” he paused to look at Chen, sighed again, although this time his sigh wasn’t so heavy, “You met your Sun, and although we can’t see his magic yet, but I can feel it from him. From you, scholar. There’s a magic in your body.”

“Crown Prince,” Master Suho spoke. “I’m so sorry on behalf of my scholar. If only I knew—”

“You didn’t know, so don’t apologize,” the Crown Prince cut in, “and let’s look at the brighter side. At least now we know what Kyoong’s magic is. A rare one at that too.”

Kyoong clenched his right palm, could feel the weird energy running all over his hand now that he could accept them as his magic, extended to his upper arm, finally felt the powerful magic strongly surrounding his arm.

When Master Suho looked for him at his chamber just now, Kyoong didn’t feel right to hide it from Master Suho, since Chen was under Master Suho’s guidance. He told the royal scholar, felt so small when he saw how negatively Master Suho reacted to his glowing hands, and couldn’t even reject it when Master Suho begged him to meet the Crown Prince and let the Crown Prince know about his newly found magic ability.

It felt unfair to Chen. The poor scholar only accompanied Master Suho, only helping Master Suho to bring some books and now suddenly his life was entangled with Kyoong’s, he met Kibum and had to answer all of his intimidating questions.

And now he had to meet the Crown Prince.

Kyoong felt so guilty for Chen.

“Let’s appoint Chen as your personal tutor, Kyoong. I can write the appointment scroll right now,” the Crown Prince said, hiked up his sleeve higher while reaching for the brush, an empty scroll already laid on his desk.

Three pair of panic eyes looked at him, and he paused after dipping the brush in ink, but the brush hadn’t touch the empty scroll. He was amused to see their reactions, but at the same time, he understood their confusions too.

“What? It’s only natural, right? You need to understand more about your magic, and believe me, at the beginning, you can only conjure up your magic only when Chen is nearby.”

“But,” Master Suho hesitated. “Chen is still a new scholar. He is probably the same age with Prince Kyoong himself.”

“Then more the reason for him to stay with Kyoong,” the Crown Prince replied, his hand already began to stroke gracefully over the scroll. “Both of you can learn more about magic together, can study together. I myself would prefer a young scholar over some overly philosophic teacher.”

Master Suho didn’t reply anything to that, only sighed silently.

“What’s your family name, Chen?” the Crown Prince asked, continued to write his order on the scroll.

“I’m-- I’m from the Kim Clan,” Chen croaked nervously, for that was the first time he talked with the Crown Prince directly.

The Crown Prince’s hand halted its movement, as he looked at Chen, face completely unreadable. “The Kim Clan? That’s a powerful clan. You’re from the Kim Clan too, right, Master Suho?”

“Yes, My Prince,” Master Suho replied humbly, afraid to accidentally offend the Crown Prince.

Kim Clan was one of the clans that had powerful mages and witches in their bloodlines. Some of the ministers in the government weren’t fond of anyone from the Kim Clan for exactly the same reason.

“Interesting,” Crown Prince only replied with those words, and silence engulfed the whole room, only the sound of the brush against the paper filled in the room.

When the Crown Prince pressed his seal at the corner of the room, Kyoong could feel a different kind of tense starting to overwhelm him.

“Hyung,” Kyoong spoke, “Will you tell Father about it?”

The Crown Prince thought about it for a while, tying the scroll neatly before handed it to his eunuch who quickly stood from his place and took the scroll before he left the room with it.

Telling the Emperor equaled to telling the whole ministers. Anyone who could cast magic were expected to do something for the country, and Kyoong was still too young to be pressured by the ministers. He didn’t even understand his own magic yet.

“We still have no idea how your magic works. Well, except that it can burn anyone that touches you, except Chen itself,” he looked at the tip of his burnt finger, the result of his curiosity when Kyoong told him about his glowing hands. “Do you want me to tell Father?

“No.”

And the Crown Prince nodded his head.

* * *

When Master Suho and Chen left the royal palace after the meeting with the Crown Prince ended, the skies slowly brightened again.

The moon no longer bleed in red, but it still hung high, now round and white among the blue skies.

Kyoong’s hands no longer glowing in light too.

He already told his eunuch about his glowing hands, and his eunuch was extremely excited to know that Kyoong finally found his magic ability.

“The scholar will come to see you every day, I presume?” his eunuch asked.

It took Kyoong a while to finally answer the simple question.

He looked at the moon, lying himself on the balcony of his chamber, felt totally overwhelmed with today’s events.

His maids were talking nonstop about the bloody moon, he still could listen to them talking about it at the court. How the curses must had affecting some people now, how they refused to fall asleep tonight in case the moon would take away their lives in their sleep, since the bloody moon already saw them just now.

His eunuch himself was restless and fidgeting so often to see Kyoong on the floor like this, afraid that Kyoong would fall asleep somehow, and would succumb to the moon’s curses. That was why his eunuch was asking him questions nonstop, to make him continue talking, to avoid him from napping or sleeping.

_“Why would such a beautiful moon cursing us evilly?”_

Chen’s words kept on replaying in his brain, as he stared at the white moon, felt like Chen had an answer to the phenomenon just now.

“Yes, he’ll come and teach me every day,” Kyoong finally answered.

When his eunuch announced Chen’s arrival the next day, Kyoong’s first instinct was to look at his hands.

They were glowing again.

Chen really was his magic’s enabler.

Master Suho came with Chen too and Kyoong somehow felt glad, because truthfully, he still felt awkward around Chen.

“He’s young, what can he thought you when he’s this young?” Master Suho said, sat on one of the cushions in front of the low table. “I checked Chen’s age yesterday and apparently he’s younger for a few moons than you. 20 is too young to be a tutor. So let me just teach both of you at the same time.”

Kyoong smiled happily, for now he had a study partner, had someone who he could call as a friend. Would Chen befriended him? Kyoong wondered, brave himself to look at Chen properly, who already sat himself beside Master Suho.

Chen still had the same warmth in his eyes, bowing respectfully at Kyoong, and somehow looked less nervous compared to yesterday. A new tassel, beige in color, was tagged to his robe, a symbol of an official working for Kyoong, for Kyoong’s quarters carried the beige color. Kyoong didn’t have a lot of officials working for him, so to have an additional official under him was enough to make him felt prouder of himself.

“So…what are we going to study for today?” Kyoong asked eagerly. He didn’t sleep for nearly a day, his eunuch kept checking on him so Kyoong read a book for the whole night, but he still felt energetic enough to continue his day, secretly wishing that…

“Do you want to know more about the moon, the source of your power?” Master Suho suggested.

Yes, that. Kyoong was really looking forward to know more about his magic.

* * *

In a day, Kyoong learnt about a lot of things.

He learnt a lot about Chen too.

Just like him, Chen was curious. Chen asked a lot during the tutoring session, and since he knew more about astronomy compared to Kyoong, he explained what he understood to Kyoong patiently.

Kyoong was quick to like the way Chen talked.

He liked Master Suho, no doubt about it, but sometimes, Master Suho lost his patience when Kyoong couldn’t quickly grasp things that didn’t make sense to him.

Chen would be the one to explain, even drew cute little circles on his papers, where he would point the ground, the moon and the sun, drew cute lines to show how the three objects would move around each other. When Kyoong still couldn’t understand the concept, Chen would pout cutely, tried to think of another way to explain to Kyoong, totally ignoring Master Suho’s pleas to just move on to another subject.

Kyoong was so fond of Chen.

A week passed, and Chen was now more comfortable with him. He would give Kyoong his bright encouraging smile whenever Kyoong seemed to struggle catching up with Master Suho’s lesson, and Kyoong could feel that he could endure hours of reading session with Chen’s smile alone.

And another week passed. Chen could even laugh together with Kyoong now whenever Kyoong made fun of Master Suho’s clumsiness. Master Suho would scold both of them together, would always remind Kyoong to behave like a prince, and would scold Chen to respect the ground of the royal palace. Chen would just smile to himself, and Kyoong would smile whenever he saw Chen smiled.

“Hyung, is this the feeling of happiness to finally able to make a friend with someone outside of the palace?” Kyoong asked Kibum, on one calm night.

Kibum looked at him weirdly, judging him thoroughly up to toe, before he answered. “Am I not enough to be your friend?”

Kyoong scoffed, “You’re my brother, hyung!”

“So? I can’t be your friend because I’m your brother?”

Kyoong smiled, clenching his non glowing hand, “It’s different. He’s someone new. Not from the palace,” Kyoong paused. “Not a pair of blue eyes. His eyes are different.”

“Oh,” Kibum said, so interested to know what was going on in his younger brother’s mind. “What pair of eyes do this Chen have in your opinion? I think his eyes are just like those we saw daily in our servants.”

Kyoong shook his head firmly, “His eyes are warm. So warm.”

Like the sun.

“There’s nothing wrong to befriend a scholar. That Chen also looks like a good kid to me,” Kibum replied. “I’ve never gotten too close with someone outside of the palace, but since he’s your magic enabler, I don’t see any harm in you to get much closer with him.”

Kyoong beamed so bright at Kibum, “Right? You think so too, hyung? I’m so interested with the world outside, and Chen is willing to share his knowledge with me, I’m sure he would tell me more about what’s happening outside of the palace.”

“Are you interested with the outside world or with the scholar, Kyoong?”

Kyoong looked at his brother, instantly terrified.

“Hyung!”

* * *

And when one day Master Suho couldn’t teach Kyoong for he had a meeting with the other royal scholars, Chen came alone to Kyoong’s quarters.

“Master Suho can’t come today,” Chen told him right after he sat on the cushion. Kyoong could notice the nervousness surrounding Chen, couldn’t really blame the young scholar to be nervous since this was his first time to enter the royal palace alone, without any supervisions.

“Do you have anything in particular to teach me today? Because if you don’t, we can just have some talk. Or do you want to accompany me for some arrow shootings?” Kyoong suggested, tried to make the scholar relax.

“I…” Chen hesitated. “I’ve never hold a bow before,” There was a tint of red on his cheeks that Kyoong always felt so fond to look at, “Besides, Master Kyoong said we can go through the book of philosophy together and he will explain them more tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Kyoong replied, quickly deflated.

“Or we can go shoot some arrows!” Chen quickly added, “I mean, you can shoot some arrows, I’ll accompany you if you want to.”

Kyoong immediately answered him with a smile, Chen never failed to make him smile, “Let’s go then! I’ll teach you how to shoot properly!”

Chen certainly didn’t lie to Kyoong, because whenever he shot the arrow, it would either get stuck on a trunk, shot too high and hopelessly lost within the tall branches or just fell flat on the ground.

Kyoong had a good laugh because of him, would come closer behind Chen to teach him how to aim the arrow properly and what to consider first before pulling and releasing the arrow. He would always be distracted by how his glowing hands contrasted greatly on Chen’s hands, how Chen never flinched to his touch compared to other people whenever Kyoong’s hands glowed.

That was also when Kyoong realized that it wasn’t Chen’s eyes that were pleasantly warm. Chen’s whole body was warm, Chen’s robe smelled like a warm sunny day, Chen’s hands under his palms were pleasantly warm.

And when Chen turned around to smile at him after he managed to land his arrow at the target board, Chen’s smile was extremely, wonderfully warm.

“Arrow shooting is fun!” Chen excitedly said, totally oblivious to Kyoong’s sudden wordless state.

Kyoong would clench his hands again, whenever he was filled with extreme fondness, justifying it with the feeling of warmth for finally getting someone to call as a friend, someone from the same age that could understand him better compared to anyone else.

Kyoong thought that everything was because of that, because he finally found a friend.

He asked about almost everything to Chen, asked him about the world outside the royal palace, asked about the people outside of the palace ground. Master Suho stopped accompanying Chen every day a month after Chen became the personal tutor, when Chen no longer awkward with the royal palace, and Kyoong often told Chen to stay with him in the palace until dusk, a few hours before the curfew started. They would often sat at the pavilion near the pond before the sun set, talked about random things.

“The people outside can freely date each other?” Kyoong asked in astonishment. “We, I meant, the princes, all have to marry someone from the noble families. I don’t know, I'm already old enough to get married, maybe my father is planning to marry me to someone, as we speak. I’m just a pawn of chess in his game of thrones anyway.”

Chen’s eyes widened, immediately looked around to check so that no one would hear Kyoong’s words. “Prince Kyoong! You shouldn’t say something so reckless like that!”

Kyoong just shrugged. “Father only see me during the morning lecture. He doesn’t even know hyung ordered you as my personal tutor. I don’t even remember when was the last time he came to visit me at my quarters,” Kyoong suddenly felt sad, always asking himself why his parents rarely check on him. “If only he come and ask, I’ll tell him about my magic right away.”

That was one thing that they learnt in 3 months after Chen became his personal tutor. Another full moon came upon them recently, and not only Kyoong’s hands glowed, his whole being glowed the whole day during the full moon, he had to excuse himself from the morning lecture and the sword practice, and went to hide in his chamber until the next day, waiting for his body to stop glowing.

“He never asked why I’m absent from the morning lecture, already satisfied with the excuse that I read too long into the night.”

“It’s okay, there’ll always be a person, or persons, who are worried about you. The Third Prince, the Crown Prince. I know they care about you.”

Chen would always say the right words to him, to assure him that everything was fine.

Kyoong, refused to drown in his sadness, continued to ask about the world outside. “So, have you dated? Or are you engaged now?”

Chen immediately went red, and Kyoong thought that those blushes were so beautiful.

“I’ve never date anyone…” Chen answered, smiled awkwardly at Kyoong. “I always read the book, and I don’t talk with women often. I already have 3 younger sisters to deal with every day, and I think that’s enough women to deal with for a lifetime.”

Chen’s chuckles sounded so beautiful, and Kyoong concluded that it must sound that way because Chen’s voice was so beautiful.

“Do you like to sing, Chen?”

Chen was taken aback by the question, “How did you know?”

Kyoong smiled at him. “Your voice. You talk as if you’re singing, it’s beautiful. And I know that it’ll sound better when you sing.”

The endearing blushes came again, and Kyoong felt so warm, all over his body.

“Maybe one day, I’ll sing to you, My Prince.”

Those moments like this, when Chen would reply him in a cryptic answer, was becoming a lot more frequent lately.

Chen wouldn’t answer him yes or no, but always in form of promises of the future, which made Kyoong felt so eager to start his day, to live for another day, just to see Chen again.

There were bounces in Chen’s way of walking when he saw Kyoong waiting for him in front of his quarters, and Kyoong replied back by waving excitedly at Chen, holding himself from running straight to the scholar.

There were delightful tunes in Chen’s voice whenever he read something to Kyoong, with hidden smiles always exchanged between them after glancing up from the book that they read. Kyoong would always feel so giddy with happiness inside, unfamiliar with the butterflies fluttering inside him.

They would sit at the pavilion in silence, the red horizon would come and Kyoong would pout, didn’t want his day to end just like that. But Chen would often times move his arm closer, so that they were shoulder to shoulder, his light blue sleeve would overlapped Kyoong’s dark purple sleeve, and that was enough for Kyoong to feel like he could survive the night without Chen’s presence.

By time, Kyoong was confused of what he felt for Chen. Was this how someone should feel towards a friend? Chen was a great friend, no doubt, but Kyoong wasn’t stupid, despite his lack of involvement with other people besides his siblings and his servants.

He wanted more with Chen.

Was it…no, he would never think too far, he shouldn’t think too far.

But every day, when he saw Chen, all he wanted was to go as far as he could.

Together with Chen.

He shouldn’t feel this way, he shouldn’t name this feeling. So he tried his best to leave his feelings nameless, the closest he would dare to name it was the warmth received from a friend.

Friends.

Chen was a friend to him, a friend he found unexpectedly, a friend who enabled his magic, a friend who made him smile, a friend who made him so warm, a friend who made him felt too much.

Too much.

* * *

One night, everything was indeed too much for Kyoong.

He tried to deny everything, only to fall back again to the same answer.

So he went to Kibum’s chamber, rushed in inside, didn’t even wait for Kibum’s eunuch to announce his arrival.

His tears already welled up, his fingers trembling, as he immediately looked at his brother who was standing near the sliding door. Kibum was initially looking over three different robes, probably deciding his outfit for tomorrow, before Kyoong burst into his chamber. Kibum didn’t even manage to scream at him for the sudden intrusion, eyes immediately panic to see Kyoong in such a restless state.

“Hyung, is it okay to feel something for someone who came from outside of the palace? To form a relationship further, so much further, that it’s a taboo to your surroundings? Is it okay, hyung?”

Kyoong only whispered those words, low enough only for the two of them to hear it, but too loud and heavy to himself, that he started to feel like those words were now eating him back, slowly.

Kibum didn’t answer him right away. The silence was killing him, he started to sob, felt that the world was rejecting him, felt that Kibum was starting to reject him too.

But after a few seconds, Kibum stepped closer, pulled him into a tight hug, and patted Kyoong’s back in a comforting way.

“It’s okay, Kyoong. It’s okay to fall in love, it’s okay.”

Kyoong just cried harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a giveaway event of a baekchen flo photocard (plus a fic), if you want to join, the link is [here!](https://twitter.com/allicynthiaaa/status/1322156776054120448?s=20)


	7. Past; Of the Sun, and You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> end of the year means a lot of work, sorry for the late update, but I'm always here ❤️

The Fourth Prince wasn’t what Chen expected in a prince.

He always thought a prince would have a serious aura around them, but the Fourth Prince didn’t have it, not in the way that Chen imagined it.

The Fourth Prince had a friendly aura. Even during their first meeting, the Fourth Prince was kind, still had the strictness in his stances, but the Fourth Prince was undeniably friendly.

Chen didn’t know exactly how to behave in front of the Fourth Prince, except in the way that the previous scholars wrote them in journals. One had to always bow their heads low in front of the royal family, one should never speak in front of the royal family, unless they had been ordered to, one should never look at the royal family straight in the eyes.

Chen remembered the Fourth Prince’s eyes first, before everything else.

The dark blue hue was deep, it was rare, and it was easy to drown in those eyes.

Chen kept drowning in the dark blue eyes.

The fact that he enabled the Fourth Prince’s magic thrown him completely out of his axis, completely forgotten how to function as a human being, just a mere soul following the young prince everywhere.

Meeting the Third Prince felt like a dream, and even meeting the Crown Prince felt unreal.

Chen lost his ability to think properly the moment the Third Prince confirmed that he was the Fourth Prince’s magic enabler.

Enabler should have some magic ability, Chen didn’t have one, not that he could cast any magic on his own. He knew no one from his family who could cast a magic, mages were usually hereditary, the magic blood should flow in one family, but no one from Chen’s family was a mage.

“Chen, we have to talk,” Master Suho said, right after they stepped out from the grand gate of the royal palace. “You can’t be a tutor so suddenly like this, I haven’t taught you a lot.”

Chen knew Master Suho didn’t mean it in a bad way, that it was true Chen still had a lot to learn, he couldn’t teach the Fourth Prince without any preparations. In fact, the Fourth Prince might even know more compared to Chen himself.

But right after they reached the scholars’ office, the people on the street literally gasping, some even bowing themselves on the ground. Master Suho sighed, the worry was evident in his face, when he looked upward, glanced at Chen for a few seconds, and sighed again.

The skies were no longer dark, the moon was no longer red, and Chen knew, he should be worried instead of feeling relieved.

He followed Master Suho and entered the office. Other scholars were asking a lot of questions to Master Suho, but Master Suho shook his head and raised his hand high, totally not in the mood to answer questions right now.

Master Suho had the answer, but it couldn’t be explain in the usual way the scholars wrote the astronomy. It could only be explained by mages, by shamans, by those who understood magic well.

When they entered Master Suho’s room, Master Suho immediately hold Chen’s arm so tight, and he looked so restless.

“Your magic is from the sun, Prince Kyoong's is from the moon. When both of you met, the eclipse was bound to happen.”

* * *

The knowledge that he had the magic of the sun following in his body was honestly hard to be accepted.

When he arrived home that night, his parents immediately checked on him, kept asking him if he fell asleep sometime during the lunar eclipse.

Chen kindly answered them that he was fine.

“I’m going to work inside the royal palace starting tomorrow.”

His parents’ face was flooded by happiness for a second, and with worries on the next second.

“Will you be fine in the royal palace? Isn’t it going to be hard to work in the palace?”

Chen had no answer to that, but he held his mother’s hand firmly.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

When he tried to sleep that night, he stared at his own hands.

It didn’t shine like the Fourth Prince, he didn’t know the feelings of a flowing magic in a body, he was thinking nonstop now, so he tried to sleep his thoughts away.

But he couldn’t sleep until the morning, so for the whole night he just stared at the full moon in the dark skies, the whole night thinking of the Fourth Prince, the whole night writing his feelings and thoughts on an empty paper.

He hid the paper safely inside his room.

When he was ready to go to the royal palace that morning, Master Suho was already waiting in front of his house.

“Here, hang them onto your robe,” Master Suho handed a beige tassel, the color which symbolized the Fourth Prince. He took it respectfully, hung it near his own scholar’s tag, and somehow suddenly felt so proud. He was one of the officials for the Fourth Prince now.

When he met the Fourth Prince again, the prince’s hands were glowing.

He remembered what Master Suho told him yesterday, that his fate was now intertwined with the Fourth Prince, that one day the Fourth Prince would enable Chen’s magic too, that their magic powers would always rely on each other.

No one mentioned it out loud that the Fourth Prince’s hands were glowing again, but the excitement on the Fourth Prince’s face was enough to tell everyone that he was happy.

Chen smiled.

When he read the book explaining about the Sun and the Moon, he smiled.

* * *

The Fourth Prince was someone that Chen couldn’t figure out.

They were the same age, the Fourth Prince was a few moons older than him, yet sometimes the Fourth Prince felt like a younger person.

The Fourth Prince was carefree, and despite the heavy defense around the royal palace, Chen felt the most freedom whenever he was with the Fourth Prince.

He wouldn’t label the Fourth Prince as a friend, they were from two completely different worlds, and Chen looked at the Fourth Prince as someone so high, that he couldn’t reach, that he couldn’t grasp.

As unreachable as the moon.

The Fourth Prince probably considered him just like another eunuch, but Chen was still willingly to stay with the Fourth Prince, as long as the time allowed them.

“Write your feelings when you can’t speak about them,” Master Suho often told him.

And Chen was feeling a lot, ever since he met the Fourth Prince.

When the night came and he returned back home, he would write his everyday life, a new life of his that started right after he met the Fourth Prince.

Night by night, he never failed to write what he did and felt, his whole day with the Fourth Prince, and he would hide the papers again among the other heap of books.

Night by night, the papers added and rolled together, forming a diary of his own.

Night by night, the diary became his most treasured writings, more valuable than the most expensive philosophy book that he ever bought.

Those writings were his feelings, his truest feelings, that he would never told another soul.

A feeling that he couldn’t understand, often explained in the book of romance, but never explained in his situation. 

He accepted that the feelings were probably born from respect and astonishment, the clear gap between Chen and the Fourth Prince was both scary and tempting at the same time.

Chen was friendly, often talked to the people on the street, often played with his sisters, but extremely shy around other women.

And why did he feel brave and shy at the same time whenever he faced the Fourth Prince?

He loved to see the Fourth Prince smiling, he loved to hear the Fourth Prince whining, he loved the Fourth Prince, everything.

Maybe this was what the philosopher meant with the phrase ‘ _love your ruler’_. The Fourth Prince wasn’t their ruler, but he was still one of the princes, and Chen definitely adored him.

A few full moons had passed since he became the Fourth Prince’s personal tutor, and Chen adored him more. He still hadn’t discover his magic, but the Fourth Prince now could control the glow of his hands, could prevent burning another person with his glowing hands, could stop himself from glowing during the full moon.

But his face glowed brighter, handsomer, cheeks fuller like the full moon, and Chen couldn’t stop adoring him.

“Maybe we should tell Father that you already discovered your magic ability, since you can control them most of the time now,” the Crown Prince said one day, when he dropped by at the Fourth Prince’s chamber.

The Crown Prince was kind, acknowledged him with a smile, and it was easy for Chen to like him. He let Chen stayed in the chamber, gestured for Chen to sit together with the eunuchs, and freely listened to their conversation. The way the Crown Prince treated Chen as someone close to him and not some kind of stranger, was enough for Chen to pray to the ancient rulers to let the man become their next Emperor. Chen already met the other princes, often met them while walking together with the Fourth Prince in the royal palace. And although not all of them were kind, some even looked at Chen like he was a slave and not a scholar, but the princes that were close with the Fourth Prince were genuinely kind.

“But, there’s not much that I can do with my magic,” the Fourth Prince replied, his eyes were filled with extreme worry, and Chen didn’t like those kind of face on the Fourth Prince.

“Then more the reason for you to tell Father and the ministers. Maybe one of the ministers knew the true potential of your magic. A magic as rare as yours, with a magic enabler that’s totally unrelated with us, maybe someone there heard something from the past about such kind of magic.”

The way the Crown Prince said it made things seemed so easy, but Chen knew the reality was far from easy. A rare magic was consider a threat to some people, Chen himself worried that the Crown Prince would hate the Fourth Prince at the beginning, for possessing the magic from the moon, but he was proved wrong when the Crown Prince himself kept checking on the Fourth Prince personally, both for his progress and simply just to talk.

“I’ll have to tell him personally…or at the royal court?” the Fourth Prince asked. From the way his face turned pale just by asking the simple question, Chen knew the Fourth Prince didn’t like to confront the ministers.

The Fourth Prince didn’t tell him directly, but it wasn’t hard to see that the Fourth Prince wasn’t anyone favorite. Ministers rarely went to see him, except to ask for his seal, for something that the Fourth Prince himself didn’t even know.

“I’ll suggest you to tell him personally first, and I’m sure he’ll tell the others at the royal court. You know Father is proud with things like that,” the Crown Prince answered, paused for a second because the Fourth Prince was so nervous. “Maybe you have to introduce Chen too, just like how we introduced our enablers. Have you told about you enabling Kyoong’s magic to your family, Chen?” he turned around to look at Chen, and Chen quickly shook his head. “Then I guess it’s the time for you to tell them.”

Chen did tell his father privately that night, and his father looked so solemn after he finished his story.

“One wrong move from you, and our entire family will be the enemy of the country,” his father said.

Of course Chen knew about it, knew the way some people looked at him whenever he walked alone on the palace ground, knew that some rumors about him already started to round the royal palace.

He ignored them all, knew that he did nothing wrong. He was there to serve for the Fourth Prince, adoring him with all his heart and soul.

“I promise that I’ll protect our family name, that I’ll never do anything to make the royal family angry at me.”

His father nodded, poured soju into both of their cups, Chen wanted to pour for his father but his father insisted, didn’t even let him hold the bottle.

“Stay with your promise well, son.”

* * *

The response to the Fourth Prince’s magic by the ministers were a lot of gasps, both happy faces and shocked faces mixed well in the whole court. Because the Fourth Prince himself still hadn’t understood much about his magic, the Emperor told the whole court that the magic was powered by both the Sun and the Moon, instead of telling the exact nature of the Fourth Prince’s magic.

Chen himself was terrified.

That was the first time he bowed down in front of the Emperor, and the way the Fourth Prince kept stuttering with his words, sitting on his knees just a few steps in front of him, didn’t help Chen at all.

_“Is the enabler from a family of shaman?”_

_“The power of the Sun and the Moon...it’s not harmful to us?”_

_“Magic that can burn with just a touch? Then the enabler can burn other people too?”_

The negativity flowing inside the royal court was too much, but Chen bear them all.

The Crown Prince defended both the Fourth Prince and Chen, explaining properly that they never harmed other people ever since the Fourth Prince found out about his magic ability, except for the unlucky burn which had already been remedied by the Second Prince.

“I’ll let the enabler to stay with Kyoong, so Kyoong can learn know more about the potential of his magic ability,” the Emperor announced.

There were whispers here and there, Chen could only continue bowing down his head, gripping his own palms so hard. Most of the ministers were still skeptical, but no one dare to say anything, not when both the Emperor and the Crown Prince favored Chen to stay working in the royal palace.

“That must be a scary experience for you,” the Fourth Prince said, once they were dismissed from the royal court, once they arrived at the Fourth Prince’s chamber. “The royal court is my least favorite place in the world, and I want that to be the last time you entered that horrible place.”

Chen gave him a smile. “I’m fine, my Prince. I’m fine, as long as I’m with you.”

There was that pinkish glow on the Fourth Prince’s cheeks that he loved to see, and Chen was willing to do anything to see it often.

But the world was mostly evil, and kindness was often rare.

Chen was so surprised when two royal guards came knocking his house after midnight. Their maid waked up the whole house with her panicked voice, Chen ran towards the main door together to meet the royal guards. His father was pale, but he still followed Chen closely behind him, but his mother couldn’t even left the bedroom due to extreme fear.

“Are you Chen, the personal tutor of the Fourth Prince?” one of the royal guards asked, after Chen appeared at the main door.

“Yes, that’s me. What’s happening?”

“Please follow us to the royal palace, right now,” the royal guard ordered sternly, there was no room for further discussion.

“Chen, change your robe now,” his father said, and despite wanted to know more about what actually happened, Chen quickly ran back to his room and wore his official scholar’s robe.

There must be something happening right now, something that the royal guards couldn’t said recklessly outside of the royal palace.

They almost jogged to the royal palace, and when they entered the palace ground, Chen could feel it.

The restlessness in the royal palace was so heavy.

There were guards everywhere and every buildings and quarters were lit heavily, the royal palace was too alive for such a dark hour after midnight.

The royal guards ushered Chen to the Fourth Prince’s quarters, the amount of people surrounding the place was causing panic to build up so quickly in his body.

Outside of the Fourth Prince’s chamber, a few princes were standing with grim faces, whispering with faces that Chen recognized from yesterday as the ministers. Chen immediately bowed down his head, didn’t have any idea at all what was happening since the royal guards still refused to say anything.

But he was so sure of one thing. Whatever was currently happening, it wasn’t a good event.

“Chen!” he heard the voice of Prince Kibum, so loud, that all of the people gathering around the quarters was looking around to find him. “Chen! Faster, come here!”

Chen saw the Third Prince waving at him, immediately ran towards the chamber, totally ignoring the other princes and ministers.

“Kyoong!” when Chen was close enough to the Third Prince, he saw how puffy his eyes were, and his nose was red. Did the Third Prince cry? What exactly happened?

“My Prince—”

“Kyoong has been poisoned!”

* * *

That was the catalyst.

The skies were dark for the entire day.

The people thought the deities were probably angry at the human. The shrines and temples were flooded by both men and women, old and young. Some even prayed inside the river, didn’t even care about getting drenched, some bowed down to the ground in the vast land of their farms, totally unbothered by the insects’ bites and the danger of the unknown animals in the darkness.

The riches suddenly gave out all of their belongings to the poor; their rice and barleys, their tea leaves and various beans, their fabrics and medicines.

The royal family and the ministers were discussing for hours in the royal court, sending guards to go as far as they could, to see if the other lands were experiencing the same thing as them right now.

When the guards returned back, no one knew exactly for how long did the guards travelled outside since they couldn’t track the time anymore, the answer was giving permanent goosebumps to the weak minded ministers, screaming and pleading for forgiveness to the deities in the royal court, not caring for the Emperor and the princes who were also sitting there.

The apocalypse was probably so near.

Because the Sun had been taken away from them, refusing to appear and light the world.

* * *

Chen sat lifelessly on the wooden floor, leaned himself on the wall, eyes staring straight and rarely blinked at the person who was lying on the mattress.

The Fourth Prince was unconscious, for who knew how long, it was hard to track the time now.

Someone poisoned the Fourth Prince the night after he announced his magic ability at the royal court. Someone put a poisoned needle on his arm, a fatal poison enhanced with black magic, which clearly intended to kill the Fourth Prince.

His eunuch heard the commotion, quickly entered the Fourth Prince’s chamber to check on him, and immediately screamed when he saw the Fourth Prince’s whole body was shaking nonstop, the back window of the chamber was wide open, clearly the only way for the culprit to escape.

He was quick to call for a physician, even the Second Prince came after hearing about the incident. Thanks to his healing magic ability, the poison stopped spreading inside the Fourth Prince’s body, but most of the damage were already done.

The palace physician was sitting beside the mattress, kept on filling the incense burner with herbs, kept on checking the Fourth Prince’s impulse, kept on sighing when he saw no improvement from the Fourth Prince.

The room was dark, only lit with one candle, because according to the palace physician, the soot weren’t good for the Fourth Prince.

One candle was enough anyway, because the Fourth Prince was glowing with a soft light.

That was the strongest indicator to them that the Fourth Prince was still alive, still battling the evil poison in his body, still had the will to live and not succumb to the total darkness.

He had been glowing ever since Chen came. And when Chen wanted to leave after knowing that he had been poisoned, to give way to the physicians to check on the Fourth Prince, the glow slowly faded away, as more and more distance created between them.

“Chen!” the Crown Prince ran towards him, but Chen didn’t walk that far anyway, for his own steps were slow and heavy. “Don’t leave, please! Stay by Kyoong’s side!”

So Chen stayed, never leaving the chamber, not even once.

There were strong protests from a few ministers, but the Crown Prince wasn’t one to be moved from his decision.

The Emperor and the Empress came to see the Fourth Prince, and even then Chen didn’t leave the chamber, only moved to the back, silently watching the royal family.

The Emperor was unreadable, his move was controlled and his face was serious, while the Empress was wailing with the Fourth Prince’s head on her lap. Even with such act in front of him, no one actually did ask Chen to leave, no one even dare to ask him anything. They just let him sat at the back or leaned on the wall. Whatever he was doing, other people didn’t question him. 

“His magic is from the Sun,” he heard the Crown Prince said outside of the chamber.

“Is that why we’re currently in the dark? Because he’s upset that Prince Kyoong is unconscious?” some unfamiliar voice asked.

“He’s not just upset,” the Crown Prince replied, “No, I don’t think upset is the right word. He’s sad. Extremely sad.”

Chen himself didn’t really know what he truly felt at that time.

He was sad, for the person that was the reason he waking up early everyday was now unconscious. The Crown Prince did say that the attack was because of the announcement of Fourth Prince’s magic, that something about the magic of the Sun and the Moon that were threatening some party now. But then Chen wondered, why the attacker didn’t attack him too? He was the enabler after all.

From that feeling alone, he was upset. Upset that the attacker didn’t attack him, upset with himself for still hadn’t discover his own magic, upset that he was totally useless in the situation.

Then came the hatred and anger. He wanted to go out there to help the others find the attacker. But he couldn’t do it, not when the Fourth Prince needed him to stay alive.

“Even though your magic hasn’t been awakened yet, they are already flowing steadily in you,” the royal physician told him. “Your magic heals him, helps him to fight the poison.”

So he stayed. He stayed and watched, he stayed and hoped, he stayed and prayed.

The Crown Prince came often, and still left to do his job. The Third Prince came and stayed longer, cried earnestly, kept asking the Fourth Prince to fight. And when crying was taking too much of his energy, the Third Prince left too.

But Chen was always there.

* * *

Sometime in the dark, when the royal physician excused himself to eat something and to get a quick nap, Chen was left with the Fourth Prince all alone, after giving the royal physician a sad smile and a firm promise that he would watch over the Fourth Prince and replace the herbs in the incense burner often. The eunuch sat outside of the chamber, guarding the chamber’s door, totally traumatized by the incident.

Chen could hear the eunuch’s soft sniffles, but then he wondered, why he never shed a tear at all ever since he knew about the ambush attack?

_Write your feelings when you can’t speak about them._

Chen didn’t know how many days had passed since the Fourth Prince has been poisoned, didn’t even know if that was his fault that the Sun refused to appear. He hadn’t wrote anything for a while, hadn’t read anything for a while, hadn’t touch a paper for a while.

He slowly stood, felt the way his legs staggering to move.

He had been sitting on the wooden floor for too long.

“Can I take some of the papers and a brush?” his voice was hoarse, he didn’t talk a lot for—he couldn’t track the time properly, so he counted the amount of times the eunuch had been replacing the candlesticks—he didn’t talk ever since the royal physician left, and 2 candlesticks had been replaced ever since then. He drank a lot less of water too.

But the eunuch still could hear him, the darkness and the situation were making them alert of any kind of noises. “Go ahead, young scholar.”

Chen crouched near the low table that had been pushed close to the wall, ever since the chamber had been receiving a lot of visitors every day—every burnt candlesticks. There were a few books, but he wasn’t interested in them for the time being. He wanted to write his thoughts, because his thoughts were chaotic and starting to eat him alive.

So he grabbed a few papers, realized that those were the golden papers, the one that made him came to the royal palace at the first place, the one that made him stumbled upon the Fourth Prince.

The papers were too rich compared to his harsh fingers, but he still took them anyway, because there were no other type of papers on the table.

He stacked them neatly, took a brush, opened up the lid of the ink jar, dipped the brush into the ink, and stopped.

He stopped moving, eyes went back to watch over the Fourth Prince.

What should he write first when there were thousands of words wanted to escape from his brain, wanted to go somewhere, anywhere?

What should he write on the golden paper that would summarize his own feelings, the feelings that he had been fighting since he met the Fourth Prince, the feelings that became stronger as he breathed in the same room with the Fourth Prince, the feelings that started to engulf him whole, on every inch of his skin?

What should he wrote, that would calm down his heart and mind, and his trembling fingers?

After a long time staring at the calm face of the Fourth Prince, Chen finally knew what to write on the golden paper first.

His strokes were soft, but he was determined. The lines were simple, but the word it formed meant the world to him.

_Kyoong._

He never called the Fourth Prince by his name. It was a crime for a commoner to call a royal family by their name, and Chen writing down the name now was also a crime.

But he didn’t care, felt that writing _the Fourth Prince_ didn’t convey what he tried to write, when all he tried to do was to be honest in his own writings.

There were a lot of feelings that came with the name alone, when the title had been stripped away, when it was Kyoong and Kyoong alone that he wanted to write about.

_Kyoong, you’ve been poisoned._

If Kyoong really fell into some realm between the living and the dead, just like how the royal physician said, then Kyoong probably knew that he had been poisoned. Physicians and scholars had gathered at the royal infirmary, tried to find a cure for the poison. They did came with a lot of liquids, tried to make Kyoong drink them, but none worked.

_Kyoong, I’m here, battling with you._

Whatever Kyoong was battling now, Chen wanted Kyoong to know that he was here, never far, always cheering for him. He didn’t know the art of qi, still hadn’t discover his magic even in such a critical situation, but Chen always prayed that Kyoong would make it through. Kyoong was strong, physically strong, and Chen knew that he was also mentally strong.

_Kyoong, the world is dark without you._

Chen still couldn’t believe that his sadness took away the Sun. But he didn’t care about that, the world could stay in the dark and Chen wouldn’t feel the darkness if Kyoong was awake, truly alive. He knew Kyoong would make some jokes now with all the darkness, would always cheer people around him, and he knew Kyoong could be the light in all of this darkness. But sadly, Kyoong couldn’t, not in this state.

_Kyoong, don’t leave me._

A tear dropped onto the golden paper, followed by another, and another stained the black ink, before Chen had to place the brush on the desk, and hugged his knees close. He couldn’t stop his tears anymore, sobbing extremely hard.

He would never thought that writing his genuine feelings would take a lot in him, would make him feel so many things. He would never thought that a person that he met in less than twelve full moons would make him felt so overwhelmed, would make him yearn for a lot.

He cried and cried, until the candlestick lost its flame, but the eunuch didn’t enter the chamber to replace it. He let Chen cried, his own sobs joined the silence of the darkness, the solemnity was too painful to bear alone.

He had to be strong, for Kyoong, for them.

Chen wiped his tears with his robe’s sleeves, sniffling his tears back so hard, but he kept reminding himself to be strong. Kyoong wouldn’t like to hear him cry.

He picked up the brush again, hand trembling when he dipped it into the ink, Chen had to grip the brush hard while sobbing loudly again, his sadness was beyond words.

His strokes were harsh and chaotic. The lines were rugged, as he tried to finish the line, the line that conveyed all of his feelings.

_Kyoong, I miss you._

* * *

Master Suho came, maybe after more than 20 candlesticks burnt out since Chen stayed in Kyoong’s chamber. 

The royal physician left the chamber, to give some privacy to them. Master Suho didn’t look too good too, his face looked tired and the way he tied his hair wasn’t as neat as usual. He probably became busy with the research too, since he was one of the master scholars.

“Any improvement with the Fourth Prince?” Master Suho asked.

It was only a question to start the conversation, Master Suho knew it well that Kyoong was still in the same state.

Still, Chen shook his head, “Nothing.”

The silence engulfed them whole, before Master Suho sighed heavily. “How are you, Chen?”

That was probably the first time someone asked about his wellbeing.

People would enter the chamber and asked about the Fourth Prince, the progress of the antidote, but never about him.

The question felt weird to him, so used to check on Kyoong, even Chen himself too forgot to check on himself.

“I’m—” he didn’t know how to answer. “I’m fine?”

Master Suho nodded, understood how hard the question was in this situation. “You should go out once in a while,” Chen quickly opened his mouth to protest but Master Suho stopped him. “Go to the verandah, I mean, not somewhere too far. Take some fresh air, although the air outside has become so cold with the lack of the heat. The soot is not good for you for a long time, try to take some time out, just a few minutes, and just try to sit at the verandah. I know Kyoong needs you near him. I know…you heal him. So you must take good care of yourself.”

Chen was a little bit surprised. Master Suho rarely talked in long sentences other than during his teachings. To see him worried for Chen like this made things suddenly felt lighter, the fact that there was someone that he could rely on during this time of madness.

But Chen himself was another form of madness, there was a madness inside him that he couldn’t tell anyone, not even to Master Suho.

Maybe one day. Probably one day, Master Suho would know.

But not because Chen told him, but because Master Suho was extremely observant.

Just like how he was observing Chen’s every move now, eyes thinking and wondering what was on Chen’s mind, trying to peek inside.

One day.

But certainly not today.

* * *

But the Third Prince probably already knew.

The way he treated Chen was so different compared to the first time that they met, Chen didn’t know exactly how to react with Prince Kibum.

“He glows, even in this darkness,” Prince Kibum said, looked fondly at his younger brother. “Hey, stupid, wake up. I need someone to join me cursing the coldness right now!”

He poked Kyoong’s arm multiple times, sighed heavily when they were no response.

Chen dared to lift his head and watched indiscreetly when it was Prince Kibum who came to the chamber. Prince Kibum wasn’t someone to beat around the bush, always kept his words and actions clear for everyone to see, always said whatever on his mind loudly and didn’t care for the consequences.

“Have you ever hold Kyoong?”

The question caught Chen by surprise. Why would he touch Kyoong, when it was clearly a crime for them to touch a royal family without consent? And certainly not when Kyoong had just been poisoned. For every time that he spent together with Kyoong, the prince was the one who touched him first, and never him.

“I’ve never touched him.”

The sigh that came after that was filled with extreme disappointment.

“You should try to hold him. I’ll cover it up for you if anyone accuse you of anything, if something happen to Kyoong.”

Should he? “What if I burn him—”

“Then I will say the glowing light is the one that burn him,” Prince Kibum turned his body around, eyes looking for Chen’s in the darkness. What Chen saw in Prince Kibum’s eyes caused goosebumps to appear all over his skin. The desperation was clear, Prince Kibum himself was probably near to the edge of insanity, dying to follow Kyoong to wherever he was now. “Hold him now, Chen.”

Chen hesitated for a moment, only moved when Prince Kibum looked as if he would force Chen to touch Kyoong himself. He sat carefully next to Prince Kibum, unknowingly holding his own breath.

He truly never touched Kyoong after he had been poisoned. Mostly because he was afraid of what could happen from just a mere touch, another because most people; the ministers and the generals, looked at him as if he wasn’t supposed to stay in the chamber at the first place. Chen didn’t want to anger anyone more, the situation was already too tricky to begin with, so he only stayed, but never did more.

“Go ahead, touch his hand.”

Other than his face, Kyoong’s hands glowed the brightest. Chen’s hand was shaking when he slowly reached out for the lean fingers, still beautiful even after such a long time that Kyoong only been fed with liquids and powdered herbs.

When he first curled his fingers around Kyoong’s, nothing magnificent really happened.

The air was still cold, and the Sun was still invincible.

Chen gripped harder, tried to find the warmth from the lean fingers, but they were too cold for something that glowed with so much light.

Kyoong was cold, and no one even mentioned it to him. He thought Kyoong was warm, the glowing light felt warm to him, he never expected it to be cold to Kyoong.

“Please open your eyes,” Chen pleaded, didn’t even care who could hear him, the sadness possessed him and possessed him whole. Kyoong was so cold, and Chen felt like his own world froze too. He held Kyoong’s hand with both of his hands, tried to give Kyoong his own heat.

But nothing happened.

Tears started to form and his jaw already shaking, Chen quickly shook his head to stop the tears from falling, pulling his hands back…

Only to be surprised when Kyoong’s fingers suddenly gripped his hand, so tight and so sudden, it reminded him of their first meeting.

Chen and Prince Kibum were both stunned and became speechless.

The changes were miniscule, but both of them could see the way Kyoong’s eyebrows were furrowing, as if he was protesting something.

“Chen,” Prince Kibum breathed out, a hand on Chen’s shoulder. “Chen, Kyoong is moving. Chen—”

Both of them went rigid when it happened.

Kyoong’s eyelids were moving.

Both of them were holding their own breath.

In the flickers of the nearly burnt out candlestick, they could see it clearly with the help of Kyoong’s own light.

When the flame died, they still could see in the dark.

Kyoong was opening his eyes.

* * *

Kyoong could kill a person with his touch.

And Chen could revive a person with his touch.

Their magic were polar opposite, but when their touches met, they healed each other the best.

Chen’s magic was tricky, because it wasn’t easy to figure it out, not when he rarely walked among the sick and the nearly dead.

“His attacker certainly knew about these magic…and the true magic of the Sun and the Moon,” Crown Prince said. He came to the chamber immediately after the eunuch screamed excitedly all over the palace ground that Prince Kyoong finally awakened from his deep slumber. “They just guessed it wrong on who had the power of the Sun, and who had the power of the Moon.”

The Sun and the Moon? Kyoong blinked his eyes so often.

He was still so weak, couldn’t even understand what was going on around him. He was surrounded by his siblings, with the royal physician kept checking his pulse and feeling his forehead. He looked confuse, his voice sounded foreign to himself, throaty from lack of use.

“What happened…?”

The Crown Prince held his other hand tight, gave Kyoong a reassuring smile. “Things happened. Get some more rest, Kyoong. You’ve been battling hard.”

At the door, the eunuch was watching them while biting his sleeve, sobbing and crying hard. The other ministers were crowding the verandah too, some were looking inside the chamber, some were looking at the skies, and some were looking at the person sitting at the edge of the verandah.

Chen was sitting at the edge of the verandah, looking at the skies.

The skies were soft now, the twilight had been there for a while, ever since he touched Kyoong’s hand, coloring the horizon with hopes for the sun.

People had been thanking him for so many times, that he already lost the count. Some even bowed down to him, holding his hands, praising his magic hands. Everything was so sudden and overwhelming, to the point that he felt like he had been harassed, eyes pleaded for help when he saw Master Suho entering the quarters’ ground.

Master Suho took pity on him, so he stood in front of Chen, blocking other people from approaching the young scholar, while looking straight at the twilight skies with a plain face.

No one bothered them after that.

“How are you feeling right now?” Master Suho asked him. He was still looking at the skies. “Your magic?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

Chen still couldn’t believe he had such kind of magic. Did he? Whenever people grabbed his hands, just for the sake of holding them, he didn’t feel anything at all.

Master Suho sighed, stared at Chen’s hands for a few seconds, before he found Chen’s eyes.

“You want to walk around for a while? Prince Kyoong is already awake anyway.”

Chen thought about it, but before he could overthink, he quickly stood. “Let’s go.”

They walked towards the garden nearby, personally tended by Kyoong himself. It was peaceful, dews formed on leaves and petals gave the garden a soft calmness in the air.

Chen stood in front of a wilting plant, he didn’t know the name for he wasn’t a good scholar in plants, and took one of the curling brown leaves, nearly dead, between his fingers. Master Suho watched him, and watched when it happened.

It started with the leaf.

The leaf slowly, so slowly, regained back the green of its color. Another brown leaf turned back to green, and then another, and another, until all of the leaves in the branch regained their health, then the branch itself stood taller, stronger.

Chen watched the plant turned healthier with only his touch, but he didn’t really know what to do, so he turned his head towards Master Suho.

This was the first time he ever saw Master Suho looked this nervous. Even knowing that he enabled Kyoong’s magic didn’t make Master Suho’s face looked like this.

“Is my magic a bad thing?”

Master Suho didn’t reply immediately. He looked at the twilight skies and bit his lower lip. He hid both of his hands behind his back, in the robe sleeves, but Chen still could see that Master Suho’s hands were trembling.

“That’s not the only magic that you have, Chen,” he finally answered after the silence was starting to get too thick.

Chen didn’t get it. “What else can I do beside this—this weird magic?”

Or maybe Chen actually understood Master Suho's words. He just refused to believe it, refused to acknowledge it.

But Master Suho’s words were making him afraid of himself.

“The Sun is waiting for you, and for Kyoong too, to reappear again.”

* * *

Despite the things that happened, Chen didn’t go back to Kyoong’s chamber after the talk with Master Suho. He excused himself, Master Suho told him not to worry about Kyoong for the time being.

Kyoong was safe now.

He went back to his house, the maid announced his arrival with extreme relief. His father immediately hugged him, no words were exchanged between them. His mother rushed out too, saw them hugging, and immediately fell on the ground, cried out all of her worries. His sisters hugged his mother, and between all of the chaos, Chen finally felt his own bad thoughts starting to leave him, clutching his father’s robe so tight and returned the warm embrace.

This was his home, a place where people didn’t question him and still accepting him for whatever he had.

The skies were getting brighter, a soft blue blanket of skies.

Chen went for a bath first, because his sister told him that he smelled like ashes and sweat. After he dried his hair, his mother already finished cooking some dishes and called everyone to eat together. The table was crowded with a lot of foods, no one knew cared if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner; everyone still gathered all around the table and talked about the old memories.

No one pressed Chen to talk about what really happened, and he was truly thankful for that.

They no longer needed the candle, everyone could see things better now even without the help of the candlelight.

After they finished the meal, Chen’s father invited him to drink some glasses of soju. His mother and sisters brought the cups and bottles, filled up the cups before they went to sit in a corner, watching the two men of their family attentively. Both of them drank in silence first, Chen needed the silence, before he could finally find the courage to talk about what he did since the Sun refused to shine.

Three cups finished, and Chen finally started to speak. “I found my magic ability.”

His father nodded, “Is it good?”

“Yes.”

His father drank another cup in one go. “Is it dangerous?”

“Yes. It’s very dangerous.”

* * *

The royal guards came for him again when Chen went to take a short nap—was it a short nap or a long sleep, he had no idea— head a little bit dizzy since he drank a lot of soju.

“The Fourth Prince is looking for you,” the royal guard announced when he saw Chen approaching them.

Chen nodded.

He washed his face from the nearest basin, rearranged his robe neatly, tied all the tassels that he needed and then walked to the verandah where his father was sitting. “I’m taking my leave, father.”

His father’s reply was as short as always. “Be safe.”

When he arrived at Kyoong’s quarters, it wasn’t as crowded as before. The guards were still surrounding the area, but the ministers and the generals weren’t there anymore. Not every torches were lit too, since the darkness had started to fade away.

The eunuch was standing on the court, just outside of the chamber. He greeted Chen with his smile, and he looked better, Chen was certain that the eunuch already freshened up too.

“Prince Kyoong is waiting for you in his chamber!” he said happily, hands excited and clenching tight, as if he wanted to touch Chen but he held himself from doing so.

Chen patted his arm kindly and smiled back at the eunuch, “Thank you.”

When he climbed the short wooden staircase, he was extremely nervous.

He knew things weren’t the same anymore. He knew he wasn’t just a personal tutor to Kyoong now, knew that somehow, by some kind of fate, he saved Kyoong’s life.

He still hadn’t think about himself and the Sun, let the knowledge to sit at the farthest back of his mind.

Meet Kyoong first, then he would think about the other things later.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply once he arrived at the sliding door, bowed his upper body lower and announced himself.

“My Prince—”

The door immediately slid open, took Chen totally by surprise.

“Chennie! Thank you so much!” was all he could hear, before warm arms hugged him so tight, warm cheek pressed against his own, and warm breaths ghosted over the skin of his neck.

Chennie?

Chen himself forgot how to breathe.

All he could think at that moment were limited. But he noticed that there was no longer darkness surrounding them, the skies were probably painted with the most beautiful blue now, a warm light shone itself on him, on _them_ , and created shadows on the wooden floor.

And Kyoong.

Kyoong’s warmth, Kyoong’s breaths, Kyoong’s scent and Kyoong himself.

Chen was so overwhelmed, now that the sun was back, together with his Kyoong too.

They were finally here again, here with him again.

_The Sun, and you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forward again to the present or stay with this angsty era?


	8. 5; Of the dark purple azaleas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quoting from Wikipedia; Hwajeon (화전; 花煎), or flower cake is a small Korean pan-fried rice cake. It is made out of glutinous rice flour, honey and edible petals from seasonal flowers...
> 
> i'm going to start naming the present chapters too now to avoid confusion to myself gjfnjgn

Jongdae woke up late again the next day, but it wasn’t surprising, not when he only fell asleep when the sun already rose.

He blinked his eyes for a few times, felt comfortable within the warmth of the soft comforter, but too confused by what he just dreamt of.

He dreamt of an eclipse, of Baekhyun.

Or was it really Baekhyun? He looked weird in the dream, wore some ancient clothing and looked way too friendly for it to be true.

He wasn’t a dream interpreter, didn’t read books about dreams a lot because dream were too abstract to be interpreted by words, so he just blinked away the fragments of the dream. Somehow he could predict that he would remember the dream for a long time, for it was too absurd, too mixed up with what he just did last night.

The thought made him turned and lifted his head towards the desk. The ancient scrolls were tied up neatly on the desk, Jongdae sighed with relief—

Oh? His sigh had more sound now, he coughed a few times to check again, and now felt more relieved when he was positive he got his voice back, so he tried…

“Kyoong.”

Okay, that word felt weird for so many reasons, but at least now he had his voice back. He glanced around to find Kyoong, smiled when he saw his familiar lied near his feet, on top of the comforter, probably sleeping due to boredom. It always did that when Jongdae’s sleep schedule messed up, so when it saw Jongdae was still sleeping when he should already rise and awake, it would continue to sleep too.

Jongdae yawned and stretched his arms above his head, the light escaping from the edge of the corner told him that it was probably already noon. It still felt too early to face head on with the reality, so he closed his eyes again, the tiredness and sleepiness easily seeped into his body and mind again, felt that he started to drift off into the realm of dream again…

_Kyoong._

“Shit,” he groaned, rubbed his eyes for a few times before he stared on the ceiling. His heart felt heavy, the silence of the surroundings was starting to make him uneasy too. With extreme courage and equal amount of hesitation, he reached for his phone on the bedside table.

13:05. He was in a serious trouble.

There were a lot of notifications, topped with a few missed calls which he just scrolled over for later. He skimmed through the messages of _you’re not well yet, Jongdae-ssi? please get well soon_ from his colleagues, the Guild’s Head must have said something to cover up for his absence. He paused his scrolling when he saw the messages from the man itself, repeated his leader’s messages in his head, could hear his stern voice as clear as a bright day.

_You can go out but be careful. Stay out from the Guild and the Ministry’s buildings for a while. Better if you just stay indoors._

He sighed, it was expected, but to be confirmed by the Head himself that his situation with the Ministry was still dangerous caused him to sigh. He scrolled again, found the messages from the person that he was looking for and tapped his finger on the screen to expand the messages.

_I’m going to my lab today, the Head said its okay for me to go out._

_Just use anything in the house, ask Hedera if you want something, it’ll response quickly._

He noticed the 3 minutes difference between the messages with the next one, and pouted at his phone.

_Or you can call me anytime._

_I’ll be back before night, text me if you need anything._

That sounded like the usual Byun Baekhyun, Jongdae stared at the messages for too long, his screen blackened by itself due to the inactivity. He exhaled heavily and started to unlock the screen again, this time to look at the missed calls. The top two were from Chanyeol, knew Chanyeol was asking for his wellbeing since there were a bunch of messages from him alone.

Chanyeol could wait, he decided, then saw one missed call from Kris Wu. That one could wait too.

Nine missed calls from one particular name caught his eyes just now, because this person rarely contacted him, or any other human using his own phone.

He pressed the name and the call button, rested the phone on his right ear while lying on his left side, eyes closed and fingers latching in a form of prayer, ready for whatever this person wanted from him.

The call was connected after a few beats, Jongdae waited for a few seconds, listened to the sound of continuous tick, tick, tick of a software metronome slowly faded, the sound of a door being closed, and he coughed, testing his voice again before he greeted, “Hello—”

“Ya, stupid. I saw your face on the front page of the newspaper instead of mine! Explain!”

Jongdae groaned. “Why is my face on the newspaper?”

“Why did you ask me? You’re the one in the pictures! You’re sitting beside some puppy looking guy,” there was some pause, and the sound of papers being flipped over. “A major incident in the Ministry of Magic’s building. Two of the mages from the Guild were also present. That’s the caption of your picture.”

Someone from the Ministry must had taken the pictures then, since Jongdae was sure reporters couldn’t enter the area because of the barrier magic.

“Magic happened, what else,” he answered without much emotion.

“Are you involved?” there was no accusations in the voice, only concern.

Jongdae smiled, it had been a while since this person showed his concern over him, not with how busy the schedule of a famous singer was.

“I’m okay, hyung. Don’t worry about me,” he could feel Kyoong stirred awake, looked over his feet to see Kyoong already flying slowly towards his chest.

“Give me your new address. I have one miraculously free day today.”

His brother shouldn’t have a free day. In fact, Jongdae was confident his brother was in a studio room just now, judging by the sound of the loud metronome.

“No, it’s okay, hyung. I’m fine,” Kyoong landed on the bed instead, right beside his face. It was slumping, opened wide on its papers instead of its cover, Jongdae poked Kyoong, playfully tried to flip Kyoong over.

“I haven’t seen you in a month. And you’re only awoke now? Jongdae, it’s nearly 2! Even a superstar like me doesn’t sleep that long!” Jongdae chuckled at him, wanted to reassure his brother that he was fine, but his brother was quicker. “Your address, now. I’m flying over there now as we talk.”

“Hyung, really,” Jongdae sat up now, not sure if Baekhyun was okay to let an unknown guest enter his house, and a famous person to add, “I’m—”

“Kim Jongdae.”

Jongdae sighed in defeat. “Okay, I’ll text you the address after I end the call.”

“What makes you think you’re the one that’s going to end the call?”

And the call was immediately ended.

Jongdae shook his head with a smile. Junmyeon never changed at all, and the fame certainly didn’t change him.

Junmyeon was one of the nation’s superstars, famous singer known worldwide, a sweetheart to thousands and probably millions of fans. He was extremely secretive of his personal life, people only knew he had one younger brother, but no one ever saw a picture of Junmyeon with his family.

Jongdae was extremely thankful for that, didn’t think he could live in fame like his brother. Even the fact that he was extremely sought after by both the Guild and the Ministry already suffocated him to no end, try to imagine a million.

He texted Chanyeol, told him that he was fine, Chanyeol didn’t read the messages immediately and Jongdae knew instantly that Chanyeol was busy. Then he typed a few words, intended to send them to Baekhyun, but deleted them again.

It didn’t feel right to ask through messages, so he pressed the call button.

Baekhyun answered in a heartbeat. “Hello.”

Jongdae felt that it was too sudden, he hadn’t script his words properly yet, that he suddenly lost all words, and he ended up saying something totally different. “Our faces are in the front page of a newspaper,” damn, he hoped that Junmyeon didn’t lie to him about that.

“Oh? You’ve got your voice back?” he sounded relief, Jongdae nodded in response even though Baekhyun couldn’t see it. “Ah, yes. Someone must’ve taken the pictures secretly,” Baekhyun sighed. “Does it bother you?”

Jongdae thought about it for a second. “A little bit…hopefully people won’t give it too much attention.”

“I can meet the Head and ask for his help to talk with the newspaper agency to delete the picture.”

“Should we?”

“I want to. I’m just waiting for you to reply my messages to bring this matter up actually,” Baekhyun answered firmly.

Jongdae sighed in relief. “Sure. You want me to accompany you to meet the Head?”

“No, it’s okay, I can do it alone.”

They were engulfed in an awkward silence, before Jongdae finally found the courage to ask Baekhyun what he really wanted to ask.

“Is it okay to bring a guest into your house?”

It took Baekhyun 3 seconds before he replied. “Who?”

A superstar? No, Baekhyun would say no. “My brother. Real blood brother.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun replied. “As long as the apartment complex can accept him kindly.”

If only Baekhyun knew that nothing ever deny Junmyeon in his whole life, “He’s…kind. Surely it’s not going to be a problem.”

“A mage too?”

Okay, no use to hide this from Baekhyun. “Levitator,” a pause, and Jongdae applauded Baekhyun in his brain for being intelligent. Levitator rarely born to levitate only. “Charmer Levitator.”

He could hear Baekhyun’s short laughter, “Then he have no problem with the apartment complex then. Tell the plants in advance, they’ll tidy up the apartment a bit.”

“Okay,” Jongdae poked Kyoong again, who was falling back to sleep. He flipped Kyoong over so that the book would sleep with its cover closed, glanced over the open pages, Kyoong was opened right on the first front pages, “Thank you—”

Goosebumps was quick to form on every inch of his skin.

All this time, the papers were empty, except for the last page. But something was written on one of the papers now.

A poem was written on the opened page.

A poem that Jongdae knew by heart, was written inside Kyoong now, for he just finished deciphering it a few hours ago.

A poem from a lover, written as the last line of the poem was a word that he was extremely familiar with.

It was the last word written hugely in the same book that he was currently holding, a word that his father chose to name the book, who quickly became his familiar.

It was the name of the person in his dream last night, owned by a person with the face similarly like Baekhyun.

It was the name of the poet’s lover.

“Kyoong.”

* * *

He waited for Junmyeon at the lobby an hour after he finished replying to all people that contacted him while he was asleep, Kris Wu included. Kyoong now stood on his shoulder, Jongdae did ask Kyoong if the book knew that it had some writings inside of him now, but as usual, Kyoong didn’t response in the way that was understandable for him.

Never mind that. Kyoong rarely opened up its pages with other people anyway, but he still reminded Kyoong not to let anyone else open it up.

Jongdae showered fast, called Junmyeon again after texting him the apartment’s address and asked him to bring some food because he was starving and in no mood to cook which Junmyeon just replied _okay_ and ended the call again.

Even though he felt guilty to take Junmyeon’s time when his brother was clearly busy with his own life, somehow Jongdae needed Junmyeon now with him.

If Jongdae still had to hide some things from Chanyeol, he didn’t hide anything at all from Junmyeon. His brother didn’t belong to the Guild or the Ministry, a man totally on his own, but still possessed his own influences on other people in his own way.

It was a blessing for him to call Junmyeon both as his brother and as his best friend, knew that not everyone was lucky enough to confide anything with their own siblings.

It was easy to notice Junmyeon, despite his lame attempt to appear like a normal civilian. Junmyeon was a Charmer, but of course he didn’t levitate and fly to reach Jongdae, he still had to ask his manager to drive him to the apartment complexes, since the laws for Levitator were among the strictest magical law in the country.

Even with a sunglasses and a mask to hide his face, wearing a simple black tee with loose jeans, Junmyeon was still too attractive and stood out without a problem at all.

“He’s my friend,” Jongdae told the guards, once Junmyeon exited the car, the apartment complexes didn’t even resist him even a bit.

Probably his manager’s car, because Junmyeon only had luxurious cars, and he had to tone down his image to hide his identity.

They were always careful whenever they met, Junmyeon didn’t like to have scandals under his name, and Jongdae was just someone who wanted a simple life. 

Junmyeon showed his unassociated palms and the guards nodded before handing him a visitor pass, eyed Junmyeon for too long, but Junmyeon didn’t even react towards them. The way he was holding two takeaway bags made him almost like a civilian, Jongdae had to hold his laughter as he led them towards the elevator, didn’t even offer to help with the bags.

They didn’t talk inside the elevator, Junmyeon was careful to that extreme, afraid that people could recognize his voice easily. And when they finally reached 21st floor and walked out from the elevator, Jongdae finally laughed at his brother.

“Stupid, take one of these bags or I’ll kick your ass,” Junmyeon handed him one of bags, clearly too hot and considerably heavy, Junmyeon must have curse him silently this whole time.

Jongdae took the bag, held a hand on 2104, but only after a silent 10 seconds and a surprised look on Junmyeon’s face that 2104 agreed to open its door.

“Your apartment is seriously second guessing me?” Junmyeon asked after he closed the door again, and his eyes were getting bigger when he saw the apartment. “Oh, wow, what the hell, Jongdae? Since when did you become a Botanist?”

“Long story, hyung. This isn’t even my apartment,” Jongdae replied, noticed how Hedera was sticking rigid on the nearest wall, nodded at the vine which then steadily crawled towards him and took the takeaway bags from him.

“Ooo…kay…” Junmyeon looked in awe, handed the other takeaway bag to another vine that was approaching him. “I feel like you’ve a lot to tell me. I don’t have any schedule for the rest of the day if you want to share me your story.”

“Do you mind eating in the guestroom?” Jongdae asked, eyeing at the plants all over him, knew that Junmyeon would understand, that the plants would listen to them. And of course Junmyeon understood, nodded his head without further comments. “I’ll tell you while we’re eating.”

They worked silently in the kitchen, pouring the noodles into bowls, Junmyeon took two sets of chopsticks, and Jongdae brewed two tall glasses of black coffee, knew that Junmyeon would need them to digest his story later.

They entered the guestroom, Jongdae locked the door, just in case. They placed the bowls and glasses on the carpeted floor before they crossed their legs and sat comfortably, Junmyeon leaned against the bed, Kyoong lied on his thigh, extremely energetic to see Junmyeon again, while Jongdae sat in front of him. After a few bites of the noodles and a deep sigh, Jongdae decided that it was time to tell Junmyeon everything.

He did tell everything, from the moment he moved in to 2103, to the new writings in Kyoong, what he deciphered included. Junmyeon listened intently, asked once in a while when he couldn’t understand some things, raised his voice high when Jongdae told him that he was admitted to the hospital for days but never knew about it, and listened silently again when Jongdae told him about the ancient scrolls.

“Wow.”

Wow, indeed. Jongdae already finished his confession session, they were in silence for a few seconds, before Junmyeon said the simple wow. He couldn’t blame Junmyeon for his lack of vocabulary, if he was in Junmyeon’s place, he would be too astonished too when he heard such things.

He didn’t share them to ask for Junmyeon’s help in anything, he just wanted someone to hear and to share. Junmyeon always did that, was currently doing so, and never judged him for every actions that he took which led him to the situation he currently found himself now.

“I want to see this Baekhyun guy,” Junmyeon spoke again, and the request surprised Jongdae.

“What? Why? You never expose yourself.”

“Do you even know the danger you’re currently in?” Junmyeon asked, his eyes were scary. “If you’re currently deciphering some secrets from the past, then I need to know that you’re in a safe place and in a good hand to do so.”

“I’m not in anyone’s hand!” Jongdae was offended. “I mean, yeah, I stay at his place for the time being, but I’m pretty independent here on my own.”

“Lad, you’re the one that is endangering him here. It’s not about who’s in who’s hand now. Both of your hands and Baekhyun’s hands are tied together now. I need to make sure that he’s good enough to be endangered together with you.”

Jongdae bit his lower lip, realized the truth in Junmyeon’s words. He sighed, eyes staring at the tied ancient scrolls, considering the pros and cons of introducing Baekhyun to Junmyeon.

Junmyeon waited, his own eyes followed Jongdae’s line of view, staring at the ancient scrolls on the table.

Junmyeon wasn’t a fool, his intelligence was similar with Jongdae’s and he wasn’t even a Librarian. He knew powerful magic when he felt one, and ever since he reached the floor he could sense it. When he entered the apartment and the guestroom itself, a very strong magic was curling heavily in the air. The magic didn’t threaten him, but the magic was incredibly strong, Junmyeon felt suffocated at some random times.

“Their magic feel similar with Kyoong’s,” he commented.

Jongdae frowned. That was another thing he wanted to discuss with Junmyeon.

“Hyung, do you remember what father said about Kyoong? When he always said that Kyoong is something, or someone, from the past, not a mere thing of ancient times?”

Junmyeon considered his words before he replied, “You want to say that Kyoong the book is the Kyoong from your dream? The one with Baekhyun’s face? Damn, now I really want to know how he looks like.”

Jongdae thought about it for a while, felt like that wasn’t what he truly felt about Kyoong.

“Kyoong,” Jongdae paused. “My Kyoong, is probably related with that Kyoong in my dream. But my Kyoong wasn’t that Kyoong, no. They’re probably connected, but not the same,” Jongdae looked at Junmyeon curiously. “Reincarnations. Do you believe in them, hyung?”

“There are books written about reincarnations, how some people can remember things from the past. So I think reincarnations are possible,” Junmyeon paused. “You think some reincarnations things are happening here?”

“My Kyoong, my familiar. I think it’s involved with something big from the past. Something that’s trying to resurface now,” Jongdae answered grimly.

“Kyoong couldn’t reincarnate into a human when it’s physically still here, papers and spine on my thigh, don’t you think so?”

“Not Kyoong.”

Junmyeon, always a clever person, understood immediately. “You think _Baekhyun_ is a reincarnation of something from Kyoong’s past, and now that they finally met, things starting to reveal themselves now?”

“Don’t you think so, hyung? Kyoong reacted so strongly towards Baekhyun from the moment they met,” Jongdae scooted closer, looking at his familiar worriedly. “What if Baekhyun is something bad from it’s past?”

“You’re a Librarian, Jongdae. Don’t jump into conclusion without more proofs and knowledge,” Junmyeon warned. “If Baekhyun is bad to Kyoong, Kyoong would hit him continuously like how it react with Kris Wu whenever it saw the tall guy. Ah, no wonder the weather is so shitty lately, Kris Wu must be having bad days now that the scrolls are missing.”

Of course Junmyeon knew Kris Wu’s magic, Jongdae always complaint to his brother about Kris Wu. They were deep in their own thoughts, both were thinking about reincarnations and the mystery behind it, when the notification sounds from Jongdae’s phone distracted them.

Jongdae read them immediately, cursed when he saw that it was nearly 5 pm now. They really talked about these for hours, and now Baekhyun was asking him if his brother was still at home since he already finished his work for today.

“Baekhyun is coming back home,” Jongdae looked at his brother. “Do you really want to meet him?”

“Yeah. Introduce him to me,” Junmyeon answered, no hesitance at all in his answer.

Jongdae nodded, wrote his replies carefully before he sent them.

_He’s still here_

_I told him about the scrolls and why I’m in your apartment, and now he asked if he can meet you too_

_If it’s okay with you, then he’ll wait for you_

Baekhyun was still unpredictable to him, so Jongdae didn’t really know what to expect when Baekhyun’s reply came in less than 3 minutes.

“So?” Junmyeon asked, after Jongdae checked the reply.

“He’s coming right now.”

* * *

Jongdae didn’t tell Baekhyun that his brother was the Kim Junmyeon, the singer who was currently topped the song charts right now.

It was extremely interesting to study Baekhyun, and he knew Junmyeon didn’t like to be exposed that easily. Junmyeon was as observant as himself too, and one could learn a lot about another person from the first meeting.

Junmyeon was sitting on the long coach at the living room now, Jongdae just finished washing the utensils and sorting out the trash when he approached his brother, happily humming to the pots of flowers sorted on the TV bench. The flowers looked equally happy, swinging their petals and leaves softly, while Kyoong was flying freely across the high ceiling.

“Did you charm them?” Jongdae asked, sat at the other end of the long coach.

Junmyeon stopped humming and made a face. “Please, I’m a person with a natural singing talent. Not everything I do is influenced by my charm spell.”

Jongdae just smiled at him, already unlocked his phone when suddenly he saw Hedera was crawling fast towards the main door.

Baekhyun must had already arrived outside.

The door opened with a click, Junmyeon quickly crossed his legs, his intimidating aura was on its full bar. Kyoong landed softly on the coach headrest, also turned its body towards the direction of the main door.

Jongdae only sat and waited like a normal person.

“He sings extremely good?” they could hear Baekhyun talked to his plants, a soft chuckle even, before they saw his figure appeared behind the wall of the short alley from the main door.

“I’m sorry to make both of you wait—” Baekhyun didn’t even finish his words and stopped midway from bowing his upper body, obviously did a double take when he saw Junmyeon’s face. The grocery bags that he held even dropped from his grip, obviously from extreme shock. “Shit,” Jongdae could still hear the curse despite how low Baekhyun’s voice was, felt a little bit guilty towards Baekhyun for not giving him any heads up at all about Junmyeon.

Junmyeon only stared at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun kneeled down and clumsily took the dropped bags again, Jongdae almost wanted to stand and help, but when Baekhyun raised his body again to look at Junmyeon, Baekhyun’s reaction towards Junmyeon was so different from all the other reactions people ever gave to Junmyeon whenever they met him for the first time, Jongdae himself was so surprised.

Usually people would look at Junmyeon with panic and admiration. If Junmyeon charmed them immediately, people would look totally smitten at him too.

But Baekhyun looked panicked _and troubled_ , Jongdae truly couldn’t understand why.

“I assume from your reaction that you know me?” Junmyeon was standing now, taking a few steps towards Baekhyun, shoulders straightened and head titled high. Jongdae understood that stances, Junmyeon was in a defensive mode.

Challenging Baekhyun, in his own way.

“I…” Baekhyun paused, eyes glancing everywhere except for Junmyeon’s eyes. “Of course. You’re Kim Junmyeon,” he handed the bags to Hedera who already trailed on his right leg, Junmyeon waited patiently before Baekhyun finally saw him in the eyes. Indeed, the troubled eyes were so distracting and Jongdae really wanted to know why such eyes were displayed by Baekhyun right now. “I’m sorry, I’m just, so surprised.”

Junmyeon openly judged him from head to toe, nodded twice before he offered Baekhyun his hand. “I’m Kim Junmyeon, Jongdae’s brother. And that’s how you’re going to remember me as, from now on.”

If Jongdae didn’t watch their interactions carefully, he would probably miss that one second of hesitance on Baekhyun’s part before he took Junmyeon’s hand. “I’m Byun Baekhyun. I live here, Jongdae-ssi must already told here.”

“You guys are still talking in formal tone?” Junmyeon scoffed and Jongdae frowned at him. “Call me Junmyeon hyung. My brother’s neighbor is my neighbor too, and next door neighbors are family too for every mage. You guys should drop the formality too now,” He let go of Baekhyun’s hand and gestured towards the couch, “I need to have some talk with you, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind…hyung. Sure,” Baekhyun took the single couch beside a pot of a large sunflower, Junmyeon returned back to sit at the other end of the long coach, and Jongdae couldn’t explain the weird tension in the living room now.

Junmyeon crossed both his arms and legs, leaned his body forward towards Baekhyun’s direction before he spoke again. “You knew about the ancient scrolls.”

That was a general statement, but Jongdae knew the tricks behind it, so he looked at Baekhyun too, waiting for his answer.

Baekhyun looked at both men before he answered. “The one that appear in Jongdae’s apartment? Yeah, I was with him when he first saw them there.”

“You also knew those were originally in Kris Wu’s possession before the whole fiasco at the Ministry,” Junmyeon stated.

“I don’t really sure 100% if the scrolls are the same with the one Kris Wu kept before—”

“You don’t know the details of the scrolls?” Junmyeon asked.

“I don’t. Jongdae doesn’t tell me.”

They stopped talking when Hedera came back and creeped above the coffee table, with 3 glasses of plain water tied on its vines, carefully loosening its hold of the glasses on the table in front of the three of them. Junmyeon eyed the vine with extreme interest, watched it left the table and went back to the kitchen.

“Your plants? I’m sure they’re interested to know too,” Junmyeon tested again.

Baekhyun looked offended, as he straightened his posture. “Plants are nosy, yes, but as nosy as they are, they are wiser than human, more respectful and more understanding of boundaries and consent, unlike human.”

Junmyeon leant back on the coach, looked more relaxed, but his tone was more serious too. “And are you nosy too, Baekhyun? Can you promise me that you’ll keep everything that happened and are still happening to yourself, secrets that you’ll have to bring until your death, no matter what’re written in those scrolls? Because there are 3 of us now, your plants I’m not going to count together just like how I counted Kyoong out, and I need to know if we’re going to be the only 3 until the end.”

Baekhyun didn’t answer him immediately, a flash of worry on his face, before his face turned into one that looked so thoughtful, seemed to think of his words carefully before he answered. “Death isn’t the final stop…” he sighed, “But I promise that I’ll keep the secrets to myself, and I’m not going to betray your trust.”

Junmyeon nodded a few times, no longer looked guarded as he took the glass of plain water and sipped on it. Jongdae was still looking at Baekhyun, the Botanist himself was still in his own thoughts and Jongdae wished he could read minds right now.

“I’m going to probably stay here for a long time,” Jongdae spoke and Baekhyun immediately looked at him. “The scrolls…they’re telling me something yet the ancient language used by the writer isn’t familiar to me. It’ll take time.”

“I don’t mind the length of your stay,” Baekhyun replied. “Ancient languages are a little bit different from ours—”

“You knew ancient language, Baekhyun?” Junmyeon asked, perked with interest.

“No!” There was panic in Baekhyun’s tone and he had to stop to calm himself down. “I mean, no. I only read from the books, that ancient languages and handwritings are different from us.”

Jongdae felt that it was suspicious, really wanted to probe more, but the sound of Junmyeon’s phone vibrating nonstop inside his jeans’ pocket was too loud for the silence that was currently engulfing them.

“Ah, must be my manager. Sorry about that,” Junmyeon fished out his phone and slid it without even looking. “Hmm? Clothes fitting? Now? You’re already at the lobby? Oh, okay.”

Jongdae looked at his brother, knew that Junmyeon had to leave right now. “You need me to accompany you down there?”

Junmyeon already stood, stretching his body, Kyoong flown near him, sensing that Junmyeon would be leaving soon. “Emergency fitting. Nah, it’s okay, I can walk myself fine,” and he pulled Jongdae’s arm strongly that Jongdae had to stand too, before engulfing him in a very tight hug, “You need to stay indoors. Don’t leave if it isn’t necessary,” he looked at Baekhyun with sharp eyes and Baekhyun stood too, “and you, take care of my brother.”

“I will, Junmyeon-ssi—hyung,” Baekhyun bowed down his head, but Junmyeon dragged himself and Jongdae towards Baekhyun too suddenly, curled his left arm around Baekhyun’s body and pulled him too, who clearly looked surprised now. Jongdae whined loudly, didn’t expect to be sandwiched by the two men.

“Neighbors are family too, remember! We’re family now!” Junmyeon hugged both of them so tight, Jongdae was laughing now, and Baekhyun was still standing stiff behind Jongdae.

It took a few seconds of awkwardness and Kyoong flown and snuggled itself between the three men, before Baekhyun patted Junmyeon’s back and gave the superstar an honest smile for the first time since he met Junmyeon.

“Thank you, hyung. Thank you for coming.”

Junmyeon left a few minutes after that, the constant vibrations of his phone finally annoyed him, and he left after leaving a big signature on the glass wall of Baekhyun’s indoor balcony.

Junmyeon was really something else.

“Have you eaten?” Jongdae asked, stood outside of the indoor balcony, while glancing at the wall clock. 6.30pm, and he needed to start deciphering the next scroll. “Junmyeon hyung bought extra bowl of noodles, I kept them in the refrigerator.”

Baekhyun, who was tending his plants inside the balcony, shook his head softly. “I haven’t eaten yet, I’ll eat them later. Thanks.”

“Okay,” Jongdae replied, still stood and staring at Baekhyun’s back. He felt like he wanted to continue talking to Baekhyun, yet he had no idea what they should talk about. He sighed deeply, felt down by the lack of attention from Baekhyun, who was busy whispering to his plants. “I’m going to start working then.”

“Okay, just text me if you need anything,” Baekhyun answered without even looking at Jongdae.

Jongdae pouted to himself, but retreated nonetheless, pouring a tall glass of coffee and plain water before bringing them to the guest room and placed them on the desk, Kyoong tailing him and hit the door strong enough to close it shut.

Jongdae didn’t even bother to lock them this time, knew that somehow he trusted Baekhyun now, trusted the plants and trusted the whole apartment, that he was incredibly safe in 2104.

He lied down on the bed first, delaying the time to start working, felt like he should move at a pace that he was the most comfortable with, and unlocked his phone to read the messages that he received prior from Junmyeon.

The messages were straightforward, but the confusion brought together with them was complicated.

_Baekhyun_

_I can’t charm him, I tried every single second since he entered the apartment, I can’t charm him even after I touched him, I just can’t_

_You know I can’t charm people that already know my true personalities, but I swear I never saw him before this_

_I’m not implying he’s a bad person, he’s good if you asked my opinion_

_He’s extremely good, I’m the one that’s charmed by him_

_But I can’t charm him, and you need to keep that in mind_

_Be safe, Jongdae_

Jongdae reread the messages a few times, felt Kyoong landed softly on his stomach, and closed his eyes.

Baekhyun wasn’t a bad guy, Kyoong would continue to misbehave with Baekhyun if Baekhyun harbored some evil intentions towards them.

And that made him returned back to the original question.

Who was Baekhyun actually, that Junmyeon couldn’t charm him at all?

* * *

Jongdae stayed up until dawn again, finished deciphering another poem, and woke up around noon again.

There was no dream in his sleep this time, but his head still felt incredibly heavy.

The Guild Head’s already talked with the mages from Main Library and the Ministry themselves, Kris Wu included, that Jongdae wasn’t fit enough after the incident at the Ministry, stating that his condition worsened due to the Mute magic, and his voice hadn’t recovered yet.

Bless the Guild’s Head, Jongdae often thanked him in his thoughts. The Head didn’t even sound like he suspected Jongdae of anything.

And Jongdae was truly grateful for that, because whatever he was deciphering now really took a lot from him, and definitely would place him in a very dangerous situation, if he wasn’t already in one.

The poet was referring to a Prince in the latest poem, and it made Jongdae wondered, if he was deciphering a concubine’s love poems and letters, for those were clearly an offense in the ancient times. A loyal concubine often held top secrets of the Kings and Princes, and Jongdae wasn’t surprised if he was going to discover something so great in those ancient scrolls.

Jongdae did stop and thought deeply after he finished deciphering the poem, after the scroll vanished into nothingness, that if it was really worth it to enter into the unknown danger just because of the ancient scrolls.

He could just ignore them, pay Baekhyun some amount of money and continue living together in 2104, maybe persuade Baekhyun to move out somewhere else once Baekhyun trusted him enough so he could own both apartments and live peacefully, pretending to be oblivious of the ancient scrolls in 2103.

But when he picked up the sleeping Kyoong and turned to the first few pages, the second poem was written there too, exactly like the original handwritings, of the same strokes and curls, the only big differences were the ink on Kyoong was blacker, newer.

And that was enough for Jongdae to stop second guessing his action.

He would do it for Kyoong.

He would enter into the unknown danger for Kyoong.

When he finished showering and finally left the guestroom, with Kyoong stood on his shoulder, Jongdae immediately checked the refrigerator.

Baekhyun didn’t text him today, so Jongdae assumed that he still could use anything that Baekhyun had in his kitchen. The memories of the blood nectar flashed, but he shook them away immediately, extremely sure that Baekhyun wouldn’t put weird things in his kitchen.

There were a few dishes he could make with the poultries and vegetables that Baekhyun already stocked up yesterday, but he was currently having some sweet tooth crisis.

“Hedera,” Jongdae called out, and the vine immediately crawled to his feet. “I want to make some hwajeon. Did Baekhyun have some azaleas that I can use for cooking?” Jongdae pointed at a row of jars filled with flower petals that he sorted nicely outside the indoor balcony, positive that Hedera could understand his request.

The vine crawling in circles slowly on the floor, Jongdae thought it was hesitating and that maybe Jongdae really needed to ask Baekhyun first, but when Hedera tied itself on one particular jar and crawled back to him with it, Jongdae smiled at the vine.

He bent down and took the jar, carefully uncapped the lid, astonished with the quality of the dark purple azaleas’ flowers, none wrinkled and blackened, even the stamens were still attached beautifully. He capped the lid back, put the jar on the counter, and started to examine every condiments placed neatly on the shelf.

“I can use everything, right?” Jongdae asked Hedera, the vine softly crawled on his leg, Jongdae still couldn’t get used to the ticklish feeling but he didn’t stop the vine too, understood the touchiness nature of Hedera. “You want to watch me making them? Then, can you help me find the sweet rice flour while I’m taking out the meat and cook the rice? I’ll start making the hwajeon first while waiting for the meat to defrost.”

Hedera unattached itself from Jongdae’s leg and started to crawl on the counter, Jongdae went to the refrigerator, Kyoong now flying all over the apartment, a calm peace was engulfing the apartment, as Jongdae started to fill a small cup with rice.

Cooking the rice was easy thanks to the rice cooker, so he moved on to create hwajeon, planning to make enough so that Baekhyun could eat them too later.

The petals of dark purple azaleas were so pretty, embedded in the white dough, and Jongdae was extremely careful when frying the hwajeons in a few batches.

He wouldn’t want to spoil the beauty of the dark purple azaleas.

* * *

“I cooked a lot just now,” Jongdae said once Baekhyun entered the apartment, eyes totally focused on the TV as he lied down on the long couch comfortably, looking at Junmyeon’s sweaty face on Ultra HD quality, levitating all over the stadium, serenating his fans with his voice and natural charm, “I haven’t put them inside the refrigerator, they’re still under the food cover.”

Baekhyun eyed him carefully, but Jongdae was totally oblivious, at awe over his brother’s showmanship. Even Kyoong stood right in front of the TV, erected, full focus on Junmyeon’s face.

“Thanks,” Baekhyun replied. “I’ll reheat them later for dinner.

“Okay,” Jongdae replied quickly, wasn’t interested in a conversation, but turned his head immediately at Baekhyun’s direction when he remembered it. “I made hwajeon using your flowers! They taste so good!”

“Hwajeon?”

“Yes! Go try eat one!”

Baekhyun nodded, folded both of his sleeves while walking towards the dining table, and removed the food cover once it within his reach, to look at the meals that Jongdae already prepared.

His whole body went rigid when he saw the hwajeon, his eyes immediately searched left and right for Hedera, only to find the vine was hiding above, on the loft.

He picked one of the hwajeons, eyes all over the loft, approached Jongdae carefully and showed him the hwajeon.

“You picked the flowers yourself, or did Hedera give you these?” Baekhyun asked, his tone was desperate, Jongdae had no choice but to give him his attention.

“I asked if there’re any azaleas that I can use for cooking, and Hedera handed me a jar filled with these dark purple azaleas,” Jongdae answered honestly, worries started to seep in him when he saw Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrowed.

“When did you eat them?”

“A few hours ago? 2 hours ago, I believe.”

“How many flowers?”

“Five…Okay, what’s this about?”

“You don’t…feel anything weird?”

“By Lord of the books, what now?” Jongdae immediately moved and sat with a straight back, head tilting to look at Baekhyun, almost pleading, “I’m feeling okay right now, but you better tell me what are those flowers really are, honestly.”

Baekhyun sighed, putting the now controversial hwajeon on the coffee table, one arm placed on Jongdae’s back, softly pushing Jongdae now, to stand on his feet. “You better stay inside the room for the time being.”

“Baekhyun.”

“I don’t know, I haven’t finished experimenting the flowers—”

“Byun Baekhyun.”

“Those flowers are the leftovers from the—a campaign made by the Guild—”

“What campaign?” Jongdae stood, eyeing Baekhyun carefully now.

“That stupid kissing campaign on February—”

“No shit,” Jongdae replied, immediately closed his mouth with both of his palms, “That love campaign on February?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun answered guility.

“And now I’m going to go kissing everyone to stop this curse or what?”

“It’s not a curse—okay, sorry. But no, you don’t have to kiss everyone.”

“But that campaign was a complete success! So many people bought the kissing sweets made by the Guild! Everyone was literally horny on February!”

“No! This type of azalea doesn’t make you horny! It only makes you want to kiss someone, that’s all!”

Five seconds of complete silence passed by them, before Jongdae whined loudly and Baekhyun started to scratch his head out of guilty.

“Tell me you have the potion or the cure!”

“I don’t! We don’t create a potion for this! This is a good magic!”

“You’re telling me, right now, right in front of me, that this is a good magic?”

“Just go kiss someone then that urge will wear off,” Baekhyun answered with a straight face. “But you don’t have the urge now, right? Maybe the magic already wears off…”

“Just go kiss? I—I can’t believe you. I’m not talking to you and your vine anymore,” Jongdae stormed off, Kyoong quickly tailed him into the guest room.

Jongdae shut the door closed with a bang.

* * *

Maybe it was better if Jongdae didn’t know the true magic of the dark purple azalea.

Maybe he shouldn’t ask Baekhyun about it, to stay oblivious, so that his brain wouldn’t started to look for the symptoms in his body.

He felt the urge now.

It was an honest need, just a press of lips to another pair of lips, nothing lusty, only pure need.

“Stupid Byun Baekhyun,” Jongdae cursed, as he closed his eyes, tried to doze off somehow on the bed, to tame down the need.

It was useless.

Kyoong lied down beside him on the bed, Jongdae wondered if he could just kiss Kyoong to stop the effect of the magic.

He did it.

He picked up Kyoong, landed a big smooch on the hardcover, Kyoong struggling to break free from his fingers.

His urge was still there.

“Stupid Byun Baekhyun.”

Jongdae resorted to browse on his phone, but whenever he saw pictures of people, he would zoom in on the lips, almost throwing his phone away out of frustration.

_Stupid Byun Baekhyun_

He sent those words to Chanyeol, hoping Chanyeol would help him somehow.

_What did he do to you now?_

Chanyeol’s reply was quick. Jongdae had some hope now.

_Chanyeol_

_Can I kiss you?_

Three seconds later, Chanyeol’s reply came.

_Go to hell_

Jongdae whined, the desperation to kiss someone, anyone, was really filling his whole body.

_Are you at your house right now?_

Jongdae sent the message, already started to gather his belongings, putting an oversized olive colored sweater over his white tee, because the gloomy grey day outside wasn’t over yet.

_Yeah. You want to come over? I miss your nagging_

Jongdae sighed deeply, typing extremely fast and sent it without even thinking.

_I want to come over and kiss you_

After he checked his appearance on the mirror, he read Chanyeol’s reply.

_Seriously, can you go to hell?_

* * *

“Where are you going?” Baekhyun asked when Jongdae left the guestroom, Kyoong hovered over him. Baekhyun was doing something in the kitchen, still in his work attire but Jongdae didn’t want to care more than that.

“Finding someone to kiss, what else,” Jongdae answered sarcastically, eyes refused to meet Baekhyun’s.

“Wait, I’m truly sorry about this,” Jongdae could sense Baekhyun was approaching him, started to rush for the main door, but Baekhyun was faster, holding Jongdae’s wrist softly but firm, to stop him from moving away. “I’m trying to concoct something now, if you can wait.”

“That’s the problem. I’m desperate. I can’t wait,” Jongdae turned his head to look at Baekhyun.

Wrong move.

Baekhyun’s lips were pretty.

The upper lip was shaped in a beautiful triangle, adorned with a cute mole on top of it, and the lower lip looked so attractively red.

“Kiss me, Baekhyun.”

Both of them were surprised when Jongdae said the sentence, but Baekhyun looked borderline horrified. Jongdae was in a sensitive situation now, and everything in the universe felt like mocking him for his simple need to kiss someone.

Jongdae couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t a bad kisser. “What? You don’t want to kiss me?”

“No!” Baekhyun answered and Jongdae was seriously offended now. “I mean, no as in—”

“You can just imagine it like kissing someone in a club, you don’t have to look so terrified!”

“I’m not the type to kiss someone in the club!”

“Then imagine it like kissing a dog!”

“You’re obviously not a dog!”

Ah, damn. The blushes on Baekhyun’s cheeks were so beautiful, Jongdae had to breathe deeply to control himself.

“I’m going to Chanyeol’s place,” he snatched his wrist away from Baekhyun’s grasp.

Baekhyun still took a step closer, they were closer now.

“Why are you going there?”

“To ask him to kiss me what else—”

Baekhyun moved.

Jongdae’s brain registered the warmth of a breath on his face first, then the warmth of palms on both sides of his neck, before he finally felt the soft touch of a pair of lips on his own. The lips were hesitant, but Jongdae was desperate, so he pressed his lips more on those lips; Baekhyun’s lips.

He understood now why the kissing sweets were a major hit.

The kiss felt so euphoric.

Jongdae closed his eyes, his own hands clutching Baekhyun’s shirt on the side of his hips, moving closer, a steady warmth of chest to chest overwhelmed him entirely. Baekhyun tipped his head to the side, kissing Jongdae harder now, and Jongdae felt another warmth formed inside of him, burning him slowly, so slowly.

Baekhyun broke the kiss, eyes fluttered wildly as he looked at Jongdae, blushes of beautiful pink on the apple of his cheeks.

And Jongdae was a lost cause.

He captured Baekhyun’s lips this time, didn’t care if he was still under the influence of magic, didn’t care for the magic of flowers or any magic at all. He ran his hands on Baekhyun’s soft hair, tilting Baekhyun’s head to feel more, wanted to taste more.

More.

Baekhyun hugged him closer, and both of them were lost in their own worlds, totally ignoring the flying book or the whispering flowers.

More.

Jongdae just wanted more.

There was a familiar feeling that he tried to chase through the kiss, a feeling awakened like a lost memory from a long time ago that he still couldn’t even remember, but felt so warm despite the surrounding mystery.

And when Baekhyun whispered his name softly on his lips, Jongdae knew.

That feeling came wasn’t because of the magic of dark purple azaleas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone said the first kiss so I delivered them but in a different lifetime 😅😅😅
> 
> okay, as usual. Baekhyun's POV, or just continue the storyline, or did you long for the past again?


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